The Rescue of Paige
by minicpst
Summary: Stephanie gets asked to help a family friend. But given her luck it ends up with her having all the usual happen. Cars, two men, the gun in the cookie jar... More Ranger than Joe.
1. Chapter 1

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure. There is some violence in this story, but no smut, and a little bit of language.  
_

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 1**

Once again I found myself stuck between a rock and a hard place. No guns, no explosions, no burning cars. Not this time. This time it was between my mother and my currently on-again boyfriend. And in the Burg, explosions and guns would probably have been easier.

I'm Stephanie Plum, former lingerie buyer, current bounty hunter. A bond enforcement agent. I have handcuffs, a stun gun, and I keep my Smith & Wesson five shooter revolver in my brown bear cookie jar. I'm 5'7" and about 125 pounds. Ok, it's really more like 130 pounds. My mom's Hungarian genes mean I can eat pineapple upside down cake and button the top button on my jeans, and my dad's Italian genes mean I know a lot of fancy hand signs. My on-again/off-again boyfriend is Joe Morelli, a Trenton homicide cop. He's a good guy with an Italian temper and libido. He keeps wanting to get married. We try living together and within two months I've stormed out of his house and back to my apartment. I don't think marriage is for me right now. Morelli thinks of marriage and he thinks of kids and Bob the dog and me as a housewife, and I think of me as a bounty hunter with a hamster named Rex.

I work with Lula, a plus sized black woman and former 'ho who enjoys stuffing her 200 pounds into junior sized spandex. My cousin Vinnie Plum, sole proprietor of Vinnie Plum's Bail Bonds hires a rather misfit group, which works, as he's rather a misfit himself. From what I've heard his sexual misfits have included goats, ducks, large dogs, and my arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt. I found Joyce boffing my husband on our dining room table before the ink was dry on the marriage license. Fifteen minutes later he was now my ex-husband.

Connie Rosolli runs the office, handing out assignments and checks. Her family is the mob, and she's hooked into the underworld of Trenton. She also lives in the Burg, where I grew up, and is still plugged into that gossip as well. The Burg, the area of Trenton bordered by Chambersburg Street, is a tight knit community that goes from Chambersburg Street straight back to Italy. Neighbors are nosy, secrets are open, and hair is high.

My mentor and sometimes employer is named Ranger. He's actually Ricardo Carlos Manoso, but I don't think I've ever heard him respond to any of those names. He's Ranger. His company, Rangeman, does security and other jobs around town. Very high tech. Think James Bond done Cuban style, wearing and driving nothing but black. There's a theory that Ranger is not quite human. He can open a locked door from the outside and let himself in, even if the security chain is used. He knows everything and can see everything. During an off-again time of my relationship with Morelli he had made a deal with me; help with a capture for a night with him. We had not been lovers since, but the innuendo and tension was there.

Now, though, the tension was between my mother and my boyfriend. They generally got along very well, but not tonight. We had finished dinner and my mother wanted my help. Her payment, a lifetime supply of weekly pineapple upside down cake. Some friends of hers were in a sticky situation, and they had concerns. They didn't want the police, just someone who knew a little bit about what was going on.

Morelli, though, being Morelli and being a cop, wanted me to have nothing to do with this. We could all see that the situation stank, and I have a habit of having trouble follow me. He wanted to play cop and protective boyfriend and he wanted me to stay out of whatever this was.

On the one hand I loved my job. There were a lot of times when I didn't, but generally I did. I didn't have to wear pantyhose, I could work whenever I wanted, and occasionally my work took me to fun places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City. On the other hand, I love Morelli. Even if we don't get married we love each other. And I didn't want to have the same fight again about what he wanted for me and what I wanted. That was always the argument that had me grabbing Rex's aquarium and heading back to my apartment.

I dragged myself away from their argument for a few minutes to calm down, then I went back into the kitchen.

"Mom, enough! Joe, stop! Joe, I'm a big girl, and I know you love me, but I want to at least be able to make this decision based on what I know, rather than what you would like me to be doing. Mom, Joe is just concerned, please don't yell at him for loving me and wanting me to be safe."

With that statement both of them quieted down. They stood breathless for a few minutes.

"Great, now that you're both calmed down, why don't we send Joe home and you and I can talk about it, Mom. Joe, I'll get a ride home with my mom or dad when we're done. I shouldn't be all that long."

I knew that decision wouldn't go over well, but family in the Burg was Family. Blood is thicker than water. I had to at least hear my mom out. And I couldn't do that with Morelli standing there huffing and puffing like the angry Italian that he was. I knew this would likely lead to an argument, the same argument we always have, but it could wait. I at least needed to know what was going on.

Morelli looked from me to my mother, then back again. He shook his head, gave both of us a kiss on the cheek, and gathered Bob's leash up and headed out to his SUV. When we heard him leave my mother and I sat again at the kitchen table with a plate of cookies in front of us.

"So, what's up?" I asked my mother.

"This is so awkward, and kind of scary, but something needs to be done. My friends, Sandra and Ronald Rizzo are in a bind. They've been caring for their niece Paige since she was a baby. Her mother, Sandra's niece Elizabeth, couldn't take care of her. Sandra and Ronald are my age with a little girl in the house. They're tired a lot, it's a lot of work. I try to help when I can, since I have only the three granddaughters of my own..." Way to stab it home, Mom.

"Anyway, they know little about Elizabeth's past, other than she had Paige when she was quite young and she had to give her up. They don't know who the father is. Paige is four now, and two months ago all letters from Elizabeth stopped. She had been sending what money she could, but now nothing. Sandra doesn't know where she worked or what she did, just that money came in fairly regularly. Sometimes for large amounts, other times for less, but it always came in. Now there's been no money, no letters, no contact of any sort. They hadn't seen Elizabeth in over a year, usually they just got letters from her. An occasional phone call.

"Sandra and Ronald have asked the police for help, they've filed a missing person's report. But that's all they can do. They don't know where she lived or what she did. The letters came with postmarks from Philly, Newark, Boston, New York, sometimes even right here in Trenton. They don't have the money for a private investigator. They were wondering if maybe you could help them at all? They live a couple of streets over."

I wanted to thud my head on the wall. Why me? How do these things find me? It's not that I'm an astounding bounty hunter, never mind a private investigator. I'm tenacious, I'm stubborn, I'm nosy to a fault, and I have great instincts. All good things for a bounty hunter. But I'm not particularly good at what I do. I also have a lot of luck. Good luck and bad luck. Enough good luck to keep the roof over my head, hamster crunchies and Tastykakes in the pantry, and bullets in my gun.

I looked at my mother. She was trying very hard to appear casual, but I could tell this was tearing her up. My mother takes relationships very seriously. If her friends were in need then she would do everything she could to help. And in this case, "everything" included asking me to do this.

I sighed. "What's their address? I can run over right now and spend a few minutes chatting with them. Then can I get a ride back to Joe's?"

"Of course, of course!" my mother said, bustling up all of a sudden to write down the address and get a bag of leftovers ready for me to leave with when I came home from the Rizzos. In the Burg we do food, and every housewife makes enough to feed an army. When I eat at my parent's house there is always food enough for another two meals afterward. Good thing, that means I don't need to eat with my parents every day.

I took the address from my mother and walked the short distance to the Rizzos house. I knocked, not quite knowing who or what to expect. The first thing I saw was a little blond head bouncing in front of the door. My only experience with kids is with my nieces, and a couple of cases with kids involved. I don't quite know what to do with them in a home setting. Give me a hamster over a kid any day. Not that Joe agrees with that...

I sighed. I couldn't think about this right now.

The little blond head, who I assumed to be Paige, ran off to get Sandra and Ronald. They appeared at the door, clutching their clothes to them. When they saw who it was there was an odd look in their eyes. Like they were standing just on this side of despair and hopelessness.

"Mr. And Mrs. Rizzo? I'm Stephanie Plum. My mother asked me to come over to your house and discuss your..."

"Yes, of course, Stephanie, please come in!" They opened the door for me. I entered a house warm with smells of dinner and dessert.

"Would you care for some cake and coffee? We've just finished dinner ourselves." You can't enter a home in the Burg without being offered cake and coffee. "We're sorry for interrupting you, my dear, it's just that we don't want this news out on the street. Your mother is such an old, dear friend, we knew we could trust her, but we don't want this news around. And you know how rumors and gossip goes in the Burg. Please, can we trust you to keep this a secret?"

"Of course," I said easily. I generally tried not to tell everyone what was going on. I failed miserably, but I did generally try. There was something more to the request than just privacy, though. I could tell. There was fear that if this got out worse things may happen. It was clear on her face. I pretended I didn't see it and went on.

"You've been having concerns over Elizabeth? She's disappeared?"

"We think so. We never knew where she was living. Her letters would come from all over the Northeast. Sometimes there would be a long letter telling us of her travels and what she had seen, other times just a couple of sentences telling us that she was ok. With every letter she sent money, whatever she could. Occasionally it'd be as much as 10,000. and sometimes as little as 200. But she sent what she could. We were grateful for anything that came to us. We love Paige and are happy to have her, but we do have a fixed income, and children are expensive. We never had children of our own. When she was a child Elizabeth was very close to us, but we separated when she became a teenager. Her mother, my sister, may she rest in peace," we both made the sign of the cross, "died when Elizabeth was 15. Her father had been gone for years by then. Run off with another woman. We were the only family here Elizabeth and Paige had."

"What is it that Elizabeth does that she has all of this money?"

"We're not certain. We had concerns over that, but we figured it was best not to know. She spoke once or twice of her employer, but she never told us the company, but otherwise she spoke only of what she had done and seen, how much she loved and missed Paige. We don't think Elizabeth would be involved in anything illegal, dear, you must understand that. But her letters were always so vague, and the moving about was so odd. It did worry us."

"Was there anything recently that seemed to change? Did she seem more upset than normal? Happier than normal? Anything at all? Anything to indicate that she was thinking of changing her life?"

"No, not at all. Here, I have her last letter here. It was one of the short ones. It came with a check for 350."

I looked at the letter I was handed. It was a single piece of paper, handwritten with a young woman's handwriting. "Dear Aunt Sandra and Uncle Ronald," it read. "Everything here is fine. I miss you all very much. Tell Paige that I love her, and I wish I could do more for her. I'll write more soon. Love, Elizabeth." It was postmarked two months ago from Trenton, from a post office in the downtown area. In the return address area "Elizabeth Orfanelli" had been written, but nothing else.

"Do you mind if I keep this letter for a little while, please? I'd like to see if I can find anything out. Also, do you have a picture of Elizabeth?"

I looked at the picture Sandra handed me. Elizabeth looked younger than she was, with bright skin and bouncy hair a couple of shades darker than Paige's. In the picture she was wearing a bikini top and a pair of shorts, and seemed to be on the beach, having fun. Paige was just a baby in her stroller, with Elizabeth leaning over her. Her face glowing with motherly love. I wondered if I ever looked at Rex that way.

"Do you know anything about Elizabeth's friends?" I asked Sandra. "Was there anyone she hung out with as a kid, or she hangs out with now?"

Sandra shook her head. "When she was a little girl she and Lizzie Spegrula were best friends. They both loved that they were Elizabeths. But I haven't heard from Lizzie in over ten years. I don't know if she's married or in the Burg, or if she's moved out at all. The other little girl that Elizabeth was friends with growing up was Emily Tully. Last I heard Emily was going to college in Newark."

I thanked Sandra and told her I'd look into it. I said good bye to her, Ronald, and Paige, who was now doing somersaults in the living room. I let myself out and walked back to my mother's house. My mother and grandmother, who moved in when my grandfather went to the Elk's Lodge in the sky, were waiting on the step for me to arrive. There's a Burg early warning system for housewives. They know when you're approaching. Apparently it works when you're on foot as well as in a car.

My mother handed me the bag of leftovers, and my purse, and my father pulled the car around to bring me back to Morelli's house. I got in and we rode the five minute drive in silence. My father is not a man of many words. In my parent's household it's hard for him to get a word in edgewise. My father worked for the post office for 30 years. He's retired now and drives a cab part time, which means he picks up some of his friends a few mornings a week and plays cards at his club for a couple of hours.

I said good night to my father and walked into Morelli's house. And nearly right into the argument I was expecting. Morelli had not calmed down in the hour since I'd seen him. In fact he may have only gotten more upset in the meantime. Before he could get started I held up my hands.

"Joe, I don't want to have this argument. Not again. We both know it ends with me saying I'm not ready for marriage and being a housewife and kids and then going back to my apartment."

"I'm not arguing with you, Cupcake," said Morelli, though his jaw was working in some very interesting ways. "I just worry. You seem to have bad luck follow you around, and it's rarely good when someone tries to help you find it."  
"Nothing like that happened, Joe. I can't tell you what's going on, but it's nothing like what you think. Some family friends just need help."

His eyebrows went up. "That's it? That's all I'm getting about this? What's so important that it has to be so hush hush?"

"I don't know. They just asked me not to tell. Look, I'm not supposed to talk about this, not to anyone." Especially to you, I was thinking, and we both knew it. Morelli has a tough time turning off the cop part of his life. That's another argument we sometimes have. How I share more information with my coworkers than I do with my boyfriend. How sometimes the person who knows the most about my life at any one time is Ranger.

"I don't want you doing this, Cupcake. Tell your mother's friends that you're quite sorry, but you can't accept the case."  
"Excuse me? Tell them I can't accept it? Why, because my _boyfriend_ doesn't want me to have it? Tell them I can't take it because it's not my decision to make, I'm not capable of thinking for myself, is that what you want me to tell them?"

"Geez, Cupcake, slow it down! That's not what I meant. I just don't want you involved in bad news."

"You don't think I can make that decision for myself after I find out more of the facts? And besides, we don't know that it's bad news."

"I don't want you to get all of the facts! With you, honey, it's always bad news. Just leave it, ok? Walk away. In fact," he said, waggling his eyes and turning playful, "walk away right up my stairs. I'm sure I can think of a way to convince you not to go out looking for anyone right now."

"So what you're telling me is that I'm bad luck, you want me home not making my own choices, and you want me in your bed whenever you tell me to? Is that what you're telling me, Joseph Morelli? Because that is not happening!"

Just then the cricket sound of his pager went off. We glared at one another for a couple of minutes before he read the display.

"Shit, I need to take this. Look. I worry about you. I love you. I want you in my bed, yes, we both know that. I want you to make decisions that will make us both happy. Right now that's not happening. Again."

I looked at him. I could see the genuine concern for me in his eyes. I sighed. "I won't go looking for trouble," I said. I made no mention of looking for Elizabeth, or maybe asking after her friends Lizzie and Emily.

"Good, then. I'm sorry, I need to go out. I may be late. Are you going to stay here tonight, or go back to your place?"

I thought about it. Most of the fun of staying at Morelli's house was sleeping in Morelli's bed with Morelli. If he wasn't going to be home tonight I was going to go home and spend the night in my own bed.

"I'm going to head out. I want to peek in on Rex and sleep in my own bed. It's been a few days. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

He nodded, then gave me a kiss good bye that sent heat from my head to my toes. I curled my fingers around his collar and held on until the kiss was broken.

"Good night, then," he said with a smile as he angled into his SUV and pulled away.

I said good night to Bob, locked up, and got into my latest car. A 1989 Plymouth Acclaim. It was all I could afford with the insurance money from the last car I had. I have bad luck with cars. I'd lost count how many I'd had since my Mazda Miata a couple of years before. I think about a dozen, maybe a couple more. Some had been stolen, some had been crushed, but an alarming number had either caught fire or exploded. This one ran, but it made a lot of noise when I started it up and different color smoke came out of the back depending on its mood.

I turned over the engine and motored home. I entered my apartment and said hello to Rex. I dropped a cracker, a grape, and some extra hamster crunchies into his bowl. Rex ran out, grabbed the grape, and ran back into his soup can head first. Rex's social skills are limited, but he's a hamster, so it's allowed.

I took a shower and ran my fingers through my hair. I looked at the picture that Sandra had given me. Elizabeth must be four years older now, but in the picture she barely looked to be in her teens. I knew she had had Paige when she was young, but I had thought she was 18 or 19, not 13. In the morning I'd go into the office and find out more information about the three girls. As it was now I was tired and it was getting late. I turned on the TV and found a Rangers game. They were losing to a Southern team. How embarrassing. I fell asleep before the third period started, and when I woke later an infomercial was on. I dragged myself to bed and slept until morning.


	2. Chapter 2

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure._

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 2**

I woke the next morning, did the gel and makeup thing, and dressed in my usual uniform. Jeans, tee shirt, flannel shirt. I took a glance out of the window and traded out the flannel shirt for a thicker sweatshirt. It wasn't quite springtime all day yet, just in the mid afternoon. In another couple of weeks it would be spring all day, but right now the last licks of winter were holding on in the early mornings. I cranked my car over and drove to the office. I walked in and found Connie sitting behind the desk. I snuck a quick look toward Vinnie's office. "Is he in?" I asked.

Connie shook her head. "Bail bondsmen conference in Charleston. In other words, an excuse to get their johnsons wagging with a bunch of Southern honies. He'll be gone all week."

I handed Connie the names I had written down for her to look up. Elizabeth Orfanelli, and Paige Orfanelli if she showed up, Lizzie Spegrula, and Emily Tully. Connie said she'd get right to it. There were no FTAs, that's Failure to Appear, that I needed to go after, and Lula hadn't shown up to do the filing yet. Lula's official job is to file, but she's more often found riding shotgun with me on apprehensions.

I sat on the brown fake leather couch in the office and closed my eyes, thinking about Elizabeth and Paige. I didn't have enough information to figure out what was going on, so I just tried to put myself in Elizabeth's shoes. Young, single mother. No money, no college. It must have been very hard for her to give Paige to her aunt and uncle. She very obviously was in love with the little girl in the stroller on the beach. So what made her change her life? She had been young, but she'd been holding her own. Half of the Burg is a mother before they're 20, it's not so uncommon. Granted, most of them are not single... So what was it? What would cause a woman to give up her child with her mother's aunt and take a job that travels across the Northeast? And why the varying income? What was she doing that meant no steady paycheck? Maybe she was a bounty hunter, like me, I thought. My paychecks certainly come in spurts sometimes. One day I may get handed a check for an apprehension for 70, another day for 10,000. Though not too many of the 10,000 checks. Ranger handled the big money bonds. He's good. He knows what he's doing. Not like me.

Speaking of who, I pulled myself out of my thoughts and found Ranger standing at Connie's desk staring at me, grinning. Oh great. I'm sure a lecture on being more aware of my surroundings was going to be coming up.

"Babe," said Ranger. "You may want to look around once in a while. See what's happening around you." He always seemed to know what I was thinking.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Are you picking up or dropping off?"

"Picking up. There's a big bond FTA who needs to get back into the system." He watched me for a moment longer. "You don't look remarkably busy. Want to ride along?"

Riding along with Ranger was always something I was up for. He was a wonder to watch work. Plus I seemed to amuse him. I knew he had me on his budget as a line item under "entertainment." He probably needed some good laughs today watching the class clown attempt a take down.

I shrugged, trying to appear casual. "Sure, let me just grab the paperwork Connie has for me, and I'll be ready."  
Connie put two stacks of paper on her desk, one for each of us. Ranger's was our FTA, a man by the name of Andrew Slack. Mine including whatever information we had right away on Elizabeth, Paige, Lizzie, and Emily.

Ranger glanced at my stack of paper and then angled his head to the door. Without a word we went out to his car. He was driving his Porsche Cayenne today. It suited him. Black, of course, and a Porsche. It had the added bonus over Ranger's 911 Turbo in that it had a backseat, though. And I'm sure many Rangeman extras. GPS, tracking, bolts for ankle shackles, a sawed off shotgun, an assault gun, and the ability to communicate with aliens in a distant galaxy. I had no idea what most of the buttons in Ranger's car did.

Ranger handed me the file on our FTA. Andrew Slack. Age 51. He was wanted, again, for possession of firearms, sale of firearms, sale of firearms to minors, and for firing one of his guns toward his girlfriend, now his ex-girlfriend. Luckily she was unhurt.

I stared at Ranger. "Did you know this guy was all about firearms? He'll probably shoot at us! I hate being shot at!"

Ranger's eyes darted over to me. "Babe."

"It's all fine and well for you to 'Babe' me, but this guy's dangerous! I haven't got a vest or a gun or anything. And you knew this before we left the office?"

"I have a vest for you in the trunk, and I swung by your apartment this morning and picked up your gun for you. It's in the glove box. I even put bullets in it for you."

"Did you have a psychic moment where you knew I was going to come along with you today, or was it something more mundane?"

"Far more mundane. I spoke to Connie before I came in this morning. She called me and asked me to bring in this FTA and that they had no one else. So I knew you'd be free. I didn't expect you to be looking for someone else, though. Or rather, a few someone elses, by the look of it."

Damn that man can read quickly! I sighed. I promised I wouldn't tell. And as of right now there was nothing I needed Ranger's help with. I'm sure he could provide it, though I shuddered to think at what cost. Bringing in Eddie DeCooch had cost me a night spent with him. Part of me wanted to run up a tab and cash in at every opportunity, but most of me wanted to stay loyal to Morelli, since we were on an on-again part of our relationship.

"I can't tell you. I promised. I'm just helping out a friend of the family, that's all. It's no big deal." Or so I hoped. I was never going to hear the end of it from Morelli if it ended up being a big deal.

"Just be careful, Babe. You have a nasty habit of dragging home unwanteds." And that was it. No argument about how I shouldn't do this, or that it's not what other Burg women do. Just a "be careful." That's one thing I liked about Ranger. One of many, many things. He seemed to respect me, and he loved me, in his own way. He also had skin like mocha latte, and I remembered he could be just as tasty. Just the right combination of smoothness and sweetness. His body was also perfect, with his tee shirts always looking like they were painted onto his sculpted muscles. And what his body claimed with clothes on it upheld with clothes off. Yum.

"Babe. You're staring. And you just said, 'yum'."

Crap. I said that out loud. I dragged my eyes back to the stack of papers Connie had handed me. There was nothing on Paige other than a birth certificate. The name for the father was left blank. Elizabeth was born and bred in the Burg, but had started moving around a lot at 15, and then at 18 she dropped off the radar when she started working at DMNC, Inc. An address in the industrial area of Trenton, down by the river. I knew the area slightly. Probably a warehouse. I hated warehouses. They burned down so easily. There was no mention of what she did at DMNC, Inc., or what was in the warehouse.

Lizzie Spegrula had a similar file to Elizabeth's, but no kids were listed. She grew up in a single parent household in the Burg, left school at 16 and ran away. Her mother died a year later. She had been employed at DMNC, Inc. but right now she was listed as working at a McDonald's in Trenton. She'd be easy to track down.

Emily Tully's file was slightly different. She actually finished high school, worked briefly at Cluck in a Bucket, started college in Newark, and then went to work for DMNC, Inc. for a short time. She was back at Cluck in a Bucket as of two weeks ago.

I wondered what DMNC, Inc. was that it had pulled all three girls in. Though maybe that wasn't too uncommon. After all, if Elizabeth was working there and she liked her jobs and her friends needed work she might recommend them.

I pulled out my cell and started making phone calls. First to McDonald's. Lizzie wasn't scheduled to come in until tomorrow. She hadn't worked since the previous Thursday. I could talk to her during her meal break tomorrow around noon. Emily hadn't yet shown up for her shift, but she was expected at any moment. She'd be there until dinnertime.

Ranger watched me make my phone calls. I hadn't said what I was doing, or who I was looking for yet, and I didn't think he had seen the full names of the girls. I wasn't going to volunteer any more information, and Ranger drove silently; his mind wherever it goes when he's driving. It's certainly not into conversation.

We pulled into Andrew Slack's neighborhood. We were in a building just at the beginning of Stark Street. Stark Street started bad and got worse. Luckily it was relatively early in the morning. The drug dealers and prostitutes were still sleeping off whatever they did last night. The druggies were coming off of their buzzes, and hopefully people who played with guns were still asleep.

Ranger and I stepped to the back of his trunk and put on our Kevlar vests. I didn't ask how he came to have one in my size. Certainly none of the men at Rangeman could fit in something so relatively tiny. I stifled a giggle as I imagined Tank, Ranger's right hand man and Lula's honey, trying to put on my vest. It might protect one shoulder. Tank didn't get his name because he's a compact man. He and Lula are well matched in that regard.

Ranger cocked his eyebrows at my aborted giggle. He seemed amused. Well, isn't that part of why he brought me here today? While Ranger finished suiting up I glanced around the side of the building. It looked as if it was about to fall apart. No fire escape, no balconies. That meant our skip had just one door to go out of, and that was the door we were going to go into. Hopefully that would make our lives easier. With our vests on, my Smith & Wesson in my hand, Ranger's gun in his hand, we started into the building. We were heading for apartment 3A. All the way up. We glanced up the stairway before we started. We didn't want a gun happy man raining bullets down at us. The staircase was narrow and confined. Bad for a fire fight, but good in that he wouldn't see us coming. He'd have to be able to see around corners. At that thought I looked for mirrors, and sure enough, before Ranger put his leg on the first step, I pointed it out to him. From what I could see in the tiny reflection, there was a system of mirrors. I don't know how many there were, or how far Andrew Slack could see with just them, but apparently he didn't feel the need to make our lives easier this morning.

Ranger nodded back to me and stepped onto the bottom step and slowly moved toward the mirror. When he was confident that the next flight was clear we advanced. Through six flights of stairs we did this. Kevlar is hot and bulky, and the stress of the situation was starting to get to me. By the time we were in front of the door to 3A I was sweating. Ranger, of course, looked as if he was in his element. His skin was dry and smooth, and he looked like he was even enjoying himself. He held up his hand and knocked on the door. No answer. We knew already there was no other way out of the apartment, so he had to be inside. Ranger listened at the door, then tried the knob. Locked. No problem for Batman. He pulled a tool off of his belt and opened the door. We went inside slowly and quietly.

The first room we entered was obviously the living room, though it appeared to double as dining room, guest room, and occasionally bathroom. The stench was horrible. Other than the odd bits of food, furniture, and feces, though, the room was empty. We moved silently further into the apartment. I checked out the bedroom while Ranger moved past into the bathroom.

As luck would have it our happy shooter was sound asleep with the covers tucked up under his chin. I had positioned myself on the other side of the bed from Ranger. I stood ready with my gun pointed at the skip. Just because he was asleep didn't mean he wasn't up to something.

"Andrew Slack? Bond enforcement. Wake up." Ranger gave Andrew Slack a shove with one hand. Nothing. No reaction. We could see him breathing, we knew he hadn't passed to the great shooting gallery in the sky. Ranger tried again. "Mr. Slack, wake up."

It seemed that Andrew Slack preferred to sleep in this morning. Which was fine by me. He didn't smell great, but he didn't smell drunk. He was probably sleeping something different off. I pointed my gun to the side and went to pull the sheets down so we could cuff him and bring him in asleep. Just as I did his eyes opened and he pulled a gun out that had been on the bed next to him. He screamed inarticulately and started shooting seemingly at random.

I ducked at the first shot and peeked over the side of the bed. Ranger had gotten behind the dresser and was taking cover there, waiting for Slack to empty his clip. Slack was just firing in Ranger's general direction. Maybe he didn't realize I was there. I stood up fully and pointed my gun at Slack. "Mr. Slack, put the gun down!"

Slack turned and looked at me, but he didn't lower his gun. His eyes held a manic energy that nearly sent my skin running for the next county. He seemed to move in slow motion as he swung his shooting hand in my direction and started to pull the trigger. Without realizing what I was doing I took aim and fired one shot. Slack shouted and released the gun. Blood splattered everywhere.

"Babe."

It was amazing how much meaning that one word could hold. In the car ride over here it had been said with a roll of the eyes. Now it was with much more respect behind it. I had shot a hole clean through Slack's hand, missing every other part of his body. No mean feat as he had nearly lined himself up to be shish-ka-bobed by a bullet. My bullet lodged in his bed.

I gave a slight shrug, trying to not show the shaking I felt. "I'm good at close range."

"Babe."

I smiled, and helped Ranger cuff Slack before bandaging his hand and dropping him off at the lock down ward of St. Francis.


	3. Chapter 3

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure._

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 3**

We were quiet on the ride to St. Francis, and absolutely silent on the ride from there back to the office. Ranger and I stood on the street, pulling off our vests before we went in. I checked it over. No hits. I hadn't felt any, but it's still nice to see.

Ranger, though, was pulling at something on my sleeve. I glanced at where his hand was and saw a hole straight through my sleeve. The bastard had shot my sweatshirt! A bullet must have bounced during the excitement.

"Did he get you, Babe?" Ranger asked. I didn't feel like he had, but there did seem to be a smudge of something dark right next to the hole. My skin was still tingling from the after effects of the adrenaline. I wouldn't have felt it if he had. We went into the office where I took off my sweatshirt. We looked at my arm, and sure enough there was a wound. Not at all serious, but there nonetheless. A bandaid would be enough.

"I don't believe this!" I yelled. "The bastard shot me! I told you I hate getting shot at, but you just show up with a vest as if that'll make me invincible, and we go in on a sleeping guy and he shoots me in the arm!"

"Do you want me to kiss it and make it all better?"

I froze. I glanced at Lula and Connie who were suddenly fanning themselves with whatever they had handy.

"Unh." Ms. Articulate, that's me.

Ranger brushed his lips gently to the wound. Then he stalked into the back room to get the first aid kit. I sat on the couch, my arm flushed and warm from the bullet wound and Ranger's lips. Ranger cleaned the wound, put a piece of gauze over it and taped it on. It wasn't deep or serious, but it went the width of my bicep. Too long for a standard bandaid. I watched him work, then put my sweatshirt back on. Bullet hole and all.

Ranger leaned in to talk to me. "Time was, Babe, when just having someone wave a gun at you would have you with your head between your legs. This morning you were shot, and you shot someone, and your head is still held high."

It was true. I'd had a touch of the shakes in the apartment, and apparently enough adrenaline running through my system so I didn't feel the graze of the bullet, but otherwise I'd been fine.

"Maybe I'm finally getting the hang of this bounty hunter thing, huh?"

"Maybe." He tucked a stray curl behind my ear and stood. "Can I talk to you outside?"

He pulled me to my feet and we went out front together. Lula and Connie hadn't stopped staring or fanning.

"Babe, I don't know what else you're doing, and it's not my place to say, but when you're asking your questions today, be smart. Keep your gun on you at all times. Get more bullets from Connie. I only put in five this morning, and you've already used one." His eyes twinkled slightly at the memory.

We had walked back to the Porsche. I glanced in. "No blood stains from anyone today. Lucky. I'd hate to have to worry about staining this."

"No worries, Babe. If it gets stained I just get a new one." He grabbed some cash and started peeling off 100 bills. He counted out 5,000 for me, my half of the catch this morning. I didn't feel I had earned it, but I knew Ranger would disagree. He was a shrewd business man, as well as a kick ass bounty hunter. I'm sure he could figure out what he thought I was owed. My mind went to thoughts of paying down some credit card debt, and maybe getting a new car. The Acclaim really wasn't all that exciting, and I had doubts as to its reliability.

He brushed a kiss across my forehead. "Be careful today, Babe. Watch your back." And with that he drove off.

I walked back to the office to see that Lula and Connie had not moved from where they had been went I went out with Ranger. Only their hands betrayed their lack of statue status. Their hands kept fanning as if there was no tomorrow. I had to agree with them. Ranger was one hot man. I was lucky enough to know this for a fact, and it didn't quell the excitement or wonder, it just fed the fire.

I stood in the doorway and waited for Lula and Connie to resume life. Slowly their eyes stopped spinning and their jaws came off the floor. They stopped fanning.

"He's not as big as my Tank, but that man is fine with a capital F!" said Lula.

"Unh," said Connie.

"Connie, I need some information on DMNC, Inc. if you can dig it up. Also, where are some bullets for my .38? I used one this morning, and I'd like to have a few spare."

"What are you up to, girl?" asked Lula. "You don't never keep bullets in your gun. And I've seen you go a month before buying replacements, so what's this 'bout spares? And what did you do with the one you used this morning?"

"I'm not up to anything. I just thought it'd be a good idea to actually have my gun loaded for once. I shot our skip this morning in the hand. He was shooting randomly at us, and he pointed his gun at me. I shot a hole in his hand, made him drop his gun."

Lula and Connie's jaws were back on the floor. I rolled my eyes.

Wait, did I just roll my eyes? I guess I was getting rather calm about this shooting stuff. Maybe Ranger is right. Maybe I am finally a real bounty hunter. That brought a slow smile to my lips.

Connie grabbed her jaw off of the floor for the second time in five minutes and handed me a sheet of paper with information about DMNC, Inc. It looked to be your usual import/export business, though what they imported and exported I had no idea. Dominic Conzitto was listed as the CEO, with Bruno Gregorio listed as the VP. It didn't say VP of what, just VP. I shrugged. It was no business of mine. No other employees were listed.

"Connie, is it normal for employees not to be mentioned at all one on of these reports?"

"Not if they have a company with a high turnover rate. Though normally for a company this size there's more of an executive group; several chief officers of various types, vice presidents, maybe a board of directors, not just two guys listed."

Connie mentioning a company "this size" got me interested. I looked further and found that DMNC, Inc. did 90M of business last year. That's not a tiny company! And yet it had two executives. I didn't quite know what to make of that.

I put the stack of papers in my shoulder bag. "Well, I'm off then. No skips today, so I guess I'll just go and enjoy myself. Call me if anything comes in." Not that I needed the money today with 5,000 flush in my pocket. This couldn't have come at a better time, now I could devote some energy to Elizabeth's case.

I got into my Acclaim, which belched black, and drove toward Cluck in a Bucket. I wanted to talk with Emily Tully. I pulled into the parking lot just as the breakfast rush was ending. I inhaled the scent deeply. Frying oil, chicken, gasoline, and whatever other fluids had leaked out of cars and the morning Jersey air. You had to be from Trenton to appreciate this kind of air.

I walked in and waited to place an order. When I got to the front the name tag of the girl behind the register read Tiffany. She was the only one working.

"Tiffany? Hi. I was wondering, is Emily Tully in?"

"She didn't show up for her shift this morning. It's not like her, normally she's here early."

"Was she having problems at home? Car trouble? Anything you can think of?"

"No, nothing was mentioned, everything seemed normal. Let me get my manager, you can talk to him."

I waited off to the side while Tiffany yelled back for the manager. I couldn't tell anyone what I was doing, I had promised the Rizzos I'd stay quiet about Elizabeth.

A slightly portly and balding manager was standing near me all of a sudden, his name tag reading Robert. He smiled at me. "Morning. Can I help you? Tiffany said you hoped to see Emily?"

"Yes, that's right. I'm a friend of the family and there was some news I needed to pass on to her. I haven't seen her in quite a while, I don't have her home address or phone number, but I knew she was working here. When I called this morning I was told she was expected at any moment. Tiffany just told me, though, that she hasn't come in yet, and that it's not at all like her. Has she missed work like this before?"

"No, never. If Emily was going to be five minutes late because of traffic she would call us to let us know. I've called her home and no one has answered. She's only been back with us for a couple of weeks, but she worked for us about two years ago for quite a while. Lovely girl. She's always so nice to everyone who comes in, and between you and me, she's quite pleasant to look at. Wholesome and youthful."

I thought that was a slightly odd way for a manager to be describing an employee, but I could tell from the look on Robert's face that his thoughts were innocent. Just odd. Wholesome and youthful would be a good way to describe Elizabeth as well, come to think of it.

"Let me get you her address and phone number. Wait just a moment." I already had her address from Connie, but Robert was already on his way to the back to copy Emily's address and phone number from her employment forms. He returned and handed me a card. There was a second phone number and his name on the bottom.

"Emily's parents died several years ago, but as she was 18 at the time she was the heir and the house has been hers since. I would imagine it's lonely for a young woman to live like that in her childhood home, but Emily always seemed to make the best of it." He paused for a moment. "I was, uh, thinking that maybe you and, uh, I could have coffee some time? I left my number on the card for you in case you'd like to get together."

Oh great. I'd been shot and asked out by a man with a round belly and a round head. And it was barely 11 o'clock. This did not bode well for the rest of the day.

"Oh, gee, uh, thanks. That's very sweet of you. Unfortunately, I don't think my boyfriend would appreciate me seeing another man." In fact I knew he wouldn't. It'd come too close to happening far too many times. I already had two Mr. Rights in my life. I wasn't going to tempt a door number three. Not that Robert the Cue Ball even seemed like a possible door number three.

"I completely understand. Of course someone like you would already have a boyfriend. Is that, uh, him over there, in the parking lot? That man's been watching you."

I followed Robert's gaze behind me. Sure enough Morelli was parked next to my Acclaim, leaning against it.

I sighed. "That's him. Thank you very much for the information, Robert. You've been helpful." I put the card he gave me in my shoulder bag and went out to the parking lot.

Morelli stood up as I approached. "Going after an FTA wearing a chicken suit?"

"No, not today. Connie didn't have any FTAs for me. Just helping out a friend."

"Christ, Cupcake. I told you not to go looking for trouble."

"And I told you I wouldn't! And I'm not. I'm looking for a friend's niece. That's all. I can't tell you anything more than that. I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have even told you this."

Morelli reached his hands up and brushed a couple of curls out of my face. Then his hands went to my shoulders. He leaned in and kissed me. Softly, but enough to make me moan slightly. I moved toward him, and he slid his hands down my arms. I gave a gasp when his right hand went over the bandage on my arm. Morelli pulled back, looking concerned.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, it's nothing. Just a scratch I got today." But it was too late. Morelli's eyes had followed his hands and he saw the hole in my sleeve, the rust colored smudge. His eyes narrowed.

"What is this?? When did this happen? Are you ok?"

"It's nothing, really. It's a bullet wound, just a scratch. Ranger and I went to pick up an FTA this morning. The guy started firing everywhere. A ricochet grazed me before I was able to convince him to let go of his gun. I'm fine. It's a scratch, nothing serious. I didn't even go to the hospital. Ranger put a bandage on at the office."

"Ranger?" Morelli paused as he obviously tried to get himself back under control. When he was under control he asked, "You 'convinced' him?"

I looked at my feet and bit my lip. "I shot him in the hand. It was a pretty convincing moment."

"Christ, Steph. You said you had no FTAs today and then two minutes later you're telling me you've been shot and you shot someone in return?"

"_I_ didn't have any FTAs. Ranger had an FTA and he asked if I wanted to ride shotgun. I didn't have anything else, so I did!"

"Why me," he muttered. "Why do I have a girlfriend who fills her spare time with maniacs wielding guns? Why can't I have a girlfriend who has a sane job, who likes to stay home?"

"Hey," I said. "That's not completely fair. I didn't know he was wanted for possession of firearms when I said I'd ride along."

"Cupcake, I wasn't talking about your FTA."

Oh. I didn't have anything to say to that. It was true, Ranger wielded a lot of guns. And other weapons. I wouldn't go so far as to call him a maniac, not most of the time anyway, but I could see Morelli's point.

"Is there any way I can convince you to go home today?" Morelli asked. He didn't look like he was expecting me to say yes in any way, but he felt he needed to ask. There were probably ways he could delay me searching; fun, exciting, sweaty ways, but we both knew I would just pick up where I had left off.

I shook my head. "Don't worry. I'm not looking for trouble. I have a gun, it has bullets, and I have a friend of the family who has asked for my help. She's just concerned about her family. That's all. It'll probably come back that she went off with some friends for a weekend and forgot to call." Man, I can lie with the best of them. I knew deep in my gut that Elizabeth was in trouble, and I was scared now that Emily was involved too. But I kept my face straight and lied to Morelli, staring him in the eye. He didn't look completely convinced, but there was nothing he could do.

"Put your gun on your hip, Cupcake. You know it's illegal for you to carry it concealed." And with that he climbed into his SUV and drove away.

I looked at the address Robert had given me. It was a nice street, solidly in the middle of the Burg. The Titos lived next door to Emily, as did the Reinholts on the other side. I went to school with Nichole Tito and Lisa Reinholt was a year older than I was.

I walked up to Emily Tully's door and knocked. There was no answer. I walked around the side of her house, peeking in windows. The first floor was a little higher than I could see in, but the windows to the basement were easy to spy in. I looked into the first window. Your typical dirt cellar. Dank, smelly, tools hanging and propped against the walls. I looked in the next window. Same scene, different angle. I looked a little more closely and I thought I saw that the dirt floor was broken in places. Maybe lumpy. My heart started to beat faster. There are only so many bodies you can find before you start thinking the worst first. Probably Emily had dug a moat for a castle at some point in her life. It was probably nothing, right?

I looked at the tools that were around. Power tools, shovels, a couple of towels, and a box of lawn sized garbage bags. My heart beat even faster. I gave another sniff with my head closer to the window. I thought I recognized a smell beyond just the dank smell of a cellar. Please no, please no, please no, I thought.

I made my way to the back of the house. There was a concrete stoop with stairs leading to the door to the kitchen, and next to it were doors leading down to the cellar. I pulled on some rubber gloves, my hands shaking. The door to the kitchen was locked when I tried the knob, but the lever to open the doors to the cellar turned freely. I pulled one door open and staggered back when the smell assaulted me. I knew that smell. My heart was now racing so quickly I could barely tell one heartbeat from another. I stepped down into the cellar, my eyes adjusting quickly to the light. Thank you adrenaline for pupil dilation.

It was just as it had seemed from outside, though standing just inside the doorway I could see that the dirt wasn't just broken, it was in a mound. And the smell of death was unmistakable.


	4. Chapter 4

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure._

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 4**

I raced back out of the house and onto the lawn, gasping for fresh air. Well, as fresh air as we can get in Jersey. I staggered to the front to my car and opened my phone. I dialed 911 and waited for the police to show up. I didn't bother calling Morelli. He'd be about ten seconds behind the ambulance, probably. That was his usual spot.

I sighed. "Usual spot." I had a life where my boyfriend had a usual spot behind the ambulance.

"Why me?" I muttered aloud.

I could hear the sirens in the distance getting closer. The first blue and white pulled up. My friend Carl Costanza and his partner Big Dog got out of their car.

"Morning, Bombshell. You've found another one, huh? It's been weeks! We had a pool going. I think I may have won." With that he started pulling out the crime scene tape and marking off the area. Other police were arriving, along with the ambulance, and as predicted, Morelli.

He walked over to me before he went around back. "I thought you were going to look for a friend's niece. Is this her?" I shook my head. I didn't think so. I told him, "The house belongs to Emily Tully. She's a friend of the niece and she didn't show up for work this morning. I came around to talk to her and instead..." I let the sentence trail off. We both knew what would happen from here. Morelli would do his cop thing, and I would do my answering question thing, then we'd meet back up together later. I had a life where we had a pattern for when I found a dead body. I sighed again.

"You still think they just went away for the weekend, Cupcake?" Morelli watched me for a moment, then started toward the back of the house. Carl came over to ask the usual questions. I answered him for about a half hour when we both looked up to watch the ME bring the body up.

"Is it Emily?" I asked Carl. He nodded. "The neighbor came over and identified the body. How, I don't know. She doesn't look so good. It's been a couple of days they think. She's wearing her Cluck in a Bucket uniform still."

I sighed. Emily Tully was dead. Elizabeth was missing. Suddenly it felt very important that I speak with Lizzie Spegrula. A cold lump had formed in my stomach. Fear. Sometimes fear could be a good thing, but sometimes it just got in the way of thinking clearly. Today seemed to be the second kind.

Carl watched me, looking at the emotions and concerns going across my face. "Anything else you'd like to tell me?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "I didn't even know her. I just wanted to talk to her, that's all. She's not wanted for anything, she's not an FTA of mine." I stopped there before I broke my vow to Sandra. None of it was untrue, but I certainly wasn't telling Carl everything.

"Ok, Bombshell. You can go. We'll get in touch with you if we need to."

I knew Morelli was going to be busy for another couple of hours at the crime scene, and I didn't want him telling me that suddenly my day has turned into a big deal, so I got into my Acclaim and left.

An hour later I was back at my apartment, freshly showered and made up. Finding a dead body was always a good reason for a long hot shower and three layers of mascara.

I moved into my living room and called Sandra Rizzo. She answered on the second ring. I could hear Paige in the background.

"Sandra, I was just checking in. Have you heard from Elizabeth at all?"

"No, my dear, we haven't. Though there was a letter this morning left on the doorstep. I found it when Paige and I came back from the market. I don't know if it's related to Elizabeth at all. It simply says, 'I want what is mine.' What does this mean, dear? We've lived here quietly for many years. We've never had anything stolen, and we've certainly never taken anything from someone else. We live quiet lives. Suddenly Elizabeth stops writing and there's a note on the doorstep." There was a pause while Sandra collected herself. It sounded like she was getting close to tears. Burg women don't cry. They iron, they wash windows, they bake. But they don't cry. When she started talking again her voice was as steady as if we'd been discussing the weather.

"We did get a message for Elizabeth two days ago, as it turns out dear. Ronald took the message and I didn't get it until now. He said it was from her friend Emily. She didn't know where Elizabeth was, but she asked if we spoke to her to have Elizabeth call her back again, that it was urgent. Apparently they'd been trying to reach one another. Do you know anything about what's going on with Emily?"

I didn't know what to tell her. I knew Emily had just been removed from a shallow grave in her own cellar not but two hours ago. I didn't want to scare her, though.

"I haven't talked to Emily, Sandra, I'm sorry. I'll see if I can find out what the message is about, ok?" There. No lies, no fear for Sandra, Ronald, and Paige. Well, no added fear because of what happened to Emily. They'd hear about it soon enough, no doubt. It's hard to keep a secret in the Burg, and Emily lived there. She was friends with Elizabeth. I'm sure within an hour Sandra's phone would start ringing with the news. But I couldn't bring myself to be the one to tell her.

I disconnected and took stock. I had one missing niece, a dead friend, and a mysterious company they both worked for. I needed to talk to Lizzie. Connie had gotten me her home number, so I dialed the phone and waited. There was no answer. The cold lump of fear returned to my belly. I grabbed her address and a bullet hole free sweatshirt and ran out the door to my car. I drove quickly to her house, scared of what I might fine.

Lizzie had an address in an area of town that in ten years would be called up and coming. Now it was just the slums, with some effort put into making it more cheerful. I guess life hadn't been good for Lizzie after she'd run away from home and her mother died.

I found Lizzie's building and parked my car. Unlike Ranger, my cars were never so elaborate or exotic that I needed to worry about them being stolen out from under me in bad areas of town. He had told me once that the way to do a stake out was to blend in. Well, my beat up Acclaim blended in quite well in the slums. I thought about the cash in my pocket from the capture this morning. Maybe after talking to Lizzie I'd get a new car.

With that happy thought I went into her building and my spirits immediately fell. The foyer smelled like trash and weed. There were unspeakable things stuck to the walls. The floor crunched as I walked, and I could see movement on the floor. A mouse scurried away from me. I made my way carefully over to the mailboxes, trying to hold my nose against the stench of trash. Though I reminded myself, it could smell worse.

Six apartments, two per floor. There were names on only two mailboxes, the other four were empty. At least empty of legal residents. Apartment three was Lizzie, and the mailbox read Spegrula. Apartment six was marked Petrski. I went to the second floor and knocked on Lizzie's door. There was no answer. The ball of fear in my stomach grew and growled. I took solace that at least I didn't smell any dead bodies. Not that I could have smelled anything with the toxic mess at the bottom of the stairs and in the hallway, but I didn't smell death. I went upstairs to the third floor and knocked on apartment 6's door. The door cracked open and from behind the security chain a short, squat, elderly woman looked out at me. She looked tired, like she had given up. In this neighborhood, in this building, I don't know that I blamed her.

"Hi," I said. "My name is Stephanie Plum. I was hoping to speak to Lizzie, she lives downstairs in number three. Do you happen to know where she's gone? She's not answering her phone or door, and she's not at work."

"I don't know nothing," she said with a thick Polish accent. "She comes, she goes. I don't watch. Better that way. Now go." The door was closed in my face. I had the feeling that Mrs. Petrski would ignore World War III if it was outside her door, just so she could claim neutrality.

I had no reason to go into Lizzie's apartment. She wasn't FTA, she wasn't late for work, she wasn't reported missing. But there was a suspicion in my mind, a horrible thought. I didn't want to wait until she was late for work. And since I was the only person I knew who couldn't pick a lock, I had to make a phone call.

"Yo," Ranger answered.

"Yo yourself. I could use some unofficial help getting into an apartment."

"I'll send one of my men over. Where are you?" I gave him the address and went back out into my car to wait. It didn't smell so bad in my car. Actually, my car smelled kind of nice. A vague memory of fries, chicken, and Bob. Maybe I shouldn't have taken Bob for a drive last week.

Within minutes a black Rangeman SUV pulled up and one of the merry men hopped out. I lead him to Lizzie's apartment. He worked for about three seconds and turned the knob for me to open, then he left. I slid on gloves and waited until I heard his door close and the SUV pull away before I went in. I would have given anything to have had someone with me, but I didn't want to implicate Rangeman if something was about to happen here.

I gave the door a gentle shove and it swung open fully on its hinges. I guess the building had sagged slightly and the door wasn't in the jam properly anymore. That'd be good to tell the police if I needed to. As it was it made it very tough to close the door again.

I moved quickly through the first room. The smell of garbage was even worse here than in the hallway. It appeared that mice had gotten into Lizzie's trash and had spread it around on the floor and were using it as both a nest and a litter box. Ick. Give me a hamster any day.

The first room, the living room, was empty. The kitchen was a mess. It didn't look like the room had been trashed, just lived in by a single young woman who didn't care much. I glanced into the bedroom. A picture of Elizabeth and two other girls was on the nightstand. That must be Elizabeth, Lizzie, and Emily. I hadn't looked at Emily when I found her body that morning, but the picture had the look of three friends who had been friends forever. I found a second picture with one of the girls in it as well as an older gentleman. So that girl in both pictures must be Lizzie.

I moved around the mess in her room as best I could. Clothes were hanging out of the dresser and falling off of hangers in the closet. Food and glasses and used condoms were under the bed. I guess the older man in the picture may have made some visits here. The bed was unmade, though she had taken the time to lay out three stuffed animals across the top. All of them were obviously well loved, probably from her childhood. I wondered what was going on in the life of the girl who loved these three animals.

The last room in the apartment was the bathroom. There was a toilet, sink, and a small tub with a ducky shower curtain pulled closed. I took a glance and was about to leave when I noticed that the bathroom floor was slightly damp. There seemed to be drops coming down the side of the bathtub. My nerves tingled as my heart got my blood pumping faster. I didn't want to know what was on the other side of the shower curtain.

I approached it slowly, hoping and praying that it was nothing. For good measure I made the sign of the cross, and then I quickly pulled aside the shower curtain. My hand immediately flew to my mouth as I stifled a scream. Lizzie was in the bathtub, naked and bloated. The water was a dull red from where her wrists had bled. Her eyes were open and her head rested on her shoulder. Her chin and mouth were submerged.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Not two in one day! I couldn't believe this. This was going to take some explaining. I didn't want to call the police. Let someone else find her. Tomorrow when she didn't show up for work someone would wonder. Since I was in her apartment illegally I just let myself back out and closed the door. I tried to close the door, anyway. It wouldn't stay shut completely. No matter what I did I couldn't get it to stay.

Finally I left it partially open. It gave me an idea. I walked to the nearest pay phone and called in an anonymous tip that I had been in Lizzie's building and there was a door open. No one answered when I yelled from the hallway, so maybe they'd like to send someone around. I hung up quickly and raced to my car, eager to get out of there before the first police arrived. I practically flew home, and straight back into the shower.

After I'd been turned back into a prune for the second time in one day the phone rang. Caller ID said that it was Morelli. Great. Just what I needed.

"What were you doing this afternoon?" he asked.

"Driving around, trying to be helpful. Why, what's the matter?"

"There was an anonymous tip called in today to check out some girl's apartment. Turns out she

was dead in her bathtub. Do you know anything about it?"

"Who, me?" I tried to sound honestly innocent.

"Christ, Stephanie!" I heard him unwrap something and chew several tablets. Rolaids, probably. "What the hell were you doing down there? You finding two bodies in one day is something, even for you!"

"First off, I was just helping out a friend, like I said, and second, of course I didn't find that body! You make it sound like I have nothing better to do than go around like some corpse sniffing dog."

We both were silent on the phone. I could tell he didn't believe me at all, but that he had nothing he could hang on me. I was just waiting for him to calm down. Morelli angry was not something I enjoyed.

"Look," he finally sighed. "I'm going to be busy all night with Emily and Lizzie. That's the second girl's name. Lizzie." He paused, maybe waiting for me to give something away. I kept my mouth tightly closed, not completely trusting myself. "I'll check in with you tomorrow. Stay out of trouble, will you?" and with that he hung up.

Stay out of trouble? I try to stay out of trouble. I really really honestly do. It just seems to have a way to find me.

The sun had gone down by now and with it the temperature. Soon spring would be here full time, but for now I pulled on a jacket over my shirt and grabbed my car keys. Tonight was a night for an emergency bakery run.

When I got back to my apartment 15 minutes later I was carrying a bag with six donuts, three muffins, four different Tastykakes, and a bag of carrots. Ok, the carrots were for Rex, I admit it. The grocery store was right next to the bakery. I unlocked my door and opened it and nearly dropped my bag when I saw someone was sitting on my couch. My heart rate started to return to normal when I realized it was Ranger. Well, my heart went back to as normal as it gets when I'm around Ranger.

He looked at me, and the bag with Tasty Pastry marked on the outside. A grin spread across his mouth. My heart rate sped back up slightly.

"Bad day, Babe?" He crossed the room and took the bag from me and put it on the counter. He put his hands on my shoulders and helped me out of the jacket, leaning in to kiss me fully and deeply on my lips. I let him take the jacket. More kissing like this and I'd let him take anything. But he pulled back and hung my jacket up on my hook before picking up the bag and taking it to the kitchen.

I stood rooted to the spot. I licked my lips and peeked around the corner into the kitchen. Ranger was putting away my carrots into the fridge, leaving one out and dropping it in Rex's aquarium. The bakery bag he put in the cabinet. Sometimes Ranger was most scary not when he was shooting down bad guys but when he was acting domestic.

"Who are you?" I asked him. That earned me another slight grin.

"I brought dinner, Babe. I know you, you find two dead bodies and you're going to run to Tasty Pastry and eat nothing but dessert all evening. So I stopped and picked up some salads and subs at Pino's." He looked at me. "Maybe we'll move on to dessert later."

At that last sentence my knees nearly buckled. Ranger had described himself to me previously as dessert. That which should not be the basis of my food pyramid. Now obviously, for me dessert WAS the basis. This caused problems when I was trying to figure out which Mr. Right was right at any given moment. One was good for me, and one I wanted all the time, consequences be damned.

Ranger, on the other hand, doesn't eat dessert. So his comment was loaded to the gills with innuendo.

I stood there, my mind frozen from thought, recovering from the near orgasm I'd had just from Ranger mentioning dessert. Something finally clicked, and the wheels started spinning again.

"How did you know I'd discovered two dead bodies today? I hadn't told you about them, and one of them I called in anonymously."

"Babe, it doesn't take a lot to put two and two together. We heard the first go out on the police radio, and then you call me asking for help getting into a locked apartment. Ten minutes later a call goes out to that address for an open door with a dead body behind it."

Oh, right. I had forgotten I had called him. It had been an awful day. I closed my eyes for a moment. I started feeling like I was deep over my head here. Elizabeth was missing, Lizzie and Emily were murdered. I knew in my gut that Elizabeth was probably dead. Why else would she have cut off contact? Ranger's help would be so appreciated, but I promised I wouldn't tell anyone. I knew Ranger could keep a secret, but a promise is a promise. Plus there was the nagging worry about the cost of asking him for help.

"Earth to Babe. Come in, Babe."

I opened my eyes and found Ranger standing inches away. How does he do that? He can move across a room without a sound, without the air moving in front of him. It was uncanny.

"Sorry, just thinking. But look on the bright side. I still have the same dying car I started out with this morning. It's something, right?"

Ranger stepped back and gave me a small smile. I moved quickly to put plates and glasses into the living room. Ranger brought out a turkey sub for me (on worthless white bread with mayo, thank you very much) and a grilled chicken salad for him. I turned on the first game I came to and we ate in companionable silence. When we were finished Ranger cleared the dishes and brought back a bottle of beer for each of us. He opened mine and handed it to me, muting the TV.

"Do you want to talk about it, Babe?"

Boy, did I ever. I just couldn't. I shook my head. "I can't. I want to, but I promised I wouldn't. Things are crazy. I'm a little scared. But as far as I can see there's nothing I can do, and I'm not involved, other than asking questions. I don't need to worry about someone coming after me. Heck, I haven't even been able to ask questions yet, come to think of it. The people I want to talk to keep ending up dead!" On that thought I finished my beer in one go and got up to go to the kitchen to help myself to another bottle.

Ranger watched me drink, sipping his beer. I'd never known him to drink a full drink. He doesn't get drunk. Me, on the other hand, I get drunk on two bottles of beer. I downed half of my second bottle in one chug, then belched. That's me, Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter and belcher extraordinare.

I was feeling more relaxed now. I didn't want to talk about Elizabeth and Paige. I didn't want to think of anything. I reached for the remote and turned the sound back on. Ranger took the remote from my hand and hit mute again.

"Sometimes asking questions is reason enough, Babe. Be careful." With that he turned the sound back on and continued to slowly sip his beer. I turned my attention back to the game, but I didn't hear a single thing. Just Ranger's statement. "Sometimes asking questions is enough." Shit. Like I needed trouble in my life again. Ranger and Morelli were right. Trouble just finds me. Why me? I thought, and from the hard line of Ranger's mouth I think I may have said that out loud.

I finished the rest of my beer quickly and nearly immediately felt the results. Things weren't so bad. I understood why some people loved drinking. It must be nice feeling this peaceful and happy all of the time. I nuzzled into Ranger and watched the game. His arm came around my shoulders and his cheek rested on my head. It took about three minutes before I was sound asleep.

_Ranger's POV_

Babe snuggled into me and fell asleep nearly instantly. I watched the game for a while longer, barely paying attention. I knew who the two dead girls had worked for before their fast food stints. I worried that Stephanie was going to be heading straight into the spider's web with this one. But she hadn't shared anything with me. I didn't know for a fact. Just a hunch. And with Stephanie's luck she was probably going to bullseye straight for the center of the web.

I had occasionally interacted with Conzitto and his men. More often with his men than with Conzitto himself. He always scurried away it seemed. And his men were everywhere. They covered more ground than Rangeman could keep an eye on. Protecting Stephanie from Conzitto and his men, if it came down to it, was going to be nearly impossible. Not to mention protecting Stephanie from Stephanie. She was not known to willingly walk into a safe house and stay there in the past. I'd cuffed her before, threatened her, been angry with her, and she'd stood her ground. Morelli had had no better success. Her luck had held and no one had killed her, yet. Captured yes. Tortured, yes, but not killed.

I looked at the woman sleeping in my arms. I could see on her arm the scar from a hot poker that Abruzzi had left for her. I saw on the back of her hand the scar from when a vigilante had burned her with a cigarette. And of course I could see the current bandage on her arm from the gunshot that morning. It was very near to the scar that was left from when Homer Ramos shot her.

Abruzzi and Ramos couldn't hurt her again. I'd made sure of that. But I'd been trying for ten years to get to Conzitto. I hadn't had the same success. I was scared for her.

I sighed and looked down at her again. It made me feel good to know that she trusted me so much to simply fall asleep in my arms. It made the thought of betraying her and locking her up without her say so, even for her own good, that much harder to think about. One day I knew it was probably going to come to that. Hopefully not today.

I leaned down and kissed her head. When she didn't stir I moved my arms around her and stood, cradling her slender form to my chest. I carried her into her room and placed her on her bed. I took off her shoes and her socks, then removed her jeans. As much as I would have liked to, I removed nothing else of hers. My moral code requires that actions are consensual. A few minutes later I had tucked her under her covers and set her alarm for 10 a.m. She'd need some time to sleep off the beer. I chuckled to myself. Two beers. That's my Babe.

I passed through the living room and locked up behind me. All the way back to Rangeman I thought about what Stephanie's goals may be, and what may happen. I went to my seventh floor apartment, showered, and got into bed.

The next morning I woke, went for a run, showered and shaved. At 9:30 I left the Rangeman parking garage and drove through the drive thru at McDonald's. I picked up a coke and fries. Babe's hangover remedy. I listened at her door, then let myself into her apartment and put them on her counter. As I let myself out I heard the alarm go off from the bedroom. It sounded like something fell, then I heard movement in the apartment. I slipped away and went back to Rangeman.


	5. Chapter 5

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure._

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 5**

_Stephanie's POV_

I woke to the alarm the next day. I slapped at it until I hit it off of the nightstand and it stopped making noise. I didn't remember setting it before bed. I didn't remember getting ready for bed. I sat straight upright and wished I hadn't. My head felt like it had nearly gone flying off to the opposite corner of the room. Then I remembered. I had had two beers and fallen asleep in the living room leaning against Ranger watching the game. I looked around. No Ranger. I was in my bed and hung over. I could guess how I had gotten here. Ranger must have carried me in and set the alarm for me. I tried to see out of my squinted eyes. It seemed dark. I don't know why he always felt like he needed me to wake up so early, though. Just because he got up before dawn didn't mean I needed to.

I threw back the covers and stood on wobbly legs. On wobbly bare legs. Shit. Ranger had gotten me ready for bed. My shoes were by my closet door, my socks in my laundry basket, and my jeans were folded neatly on my dresser. Thank goodness I still seemed to have my bra and panties on under my tee shirt. I rescued the alarm clock and put it back on the nightstand. It read 10 a.m. My mind slowly worked around that fact. It wasn't the crack of dawn. I just hadn't completely opened my eyes before. Ranger must have set the alarm so I would have some time today to work, but that I got enough sleep so as hopefully not be hung over. Good luck on that one. I think I'd need days in bed before I could wake up not hung over.

I staggered out to the kitchen to make some coffee. Filter, grounds, water, button. I shuffled back toward my bedroom when I saw a McDonald's bag on the counter. There was a note in Ranger's handwriting. Just one word. "Babe." A coke sat behind the note and fries were in the bag. My sure proof hangover remedy. I could kiss Ranger sometimes. Well, I do, but you know what I mean. I gave Rex one fry and then ate the rest of them myself and drank the coke while I waited for the coffee to brew. When I was done with the fries and coke I threw the trash away and poured myself a mug of coffee and brought it into the bathroom with me. I felt much more human. I rebandaged my arm and got into the shower. A shower, hair gel, and eyeliner completed the transformation to nearly fully functioning, though still slightly hung over, human.

After all of that I felt optimistic and ready to face the world. I grabbed my stack of papers about Elizabeth and her friends and put it in my shoulder bags. I reached for my car keys, waved good bye to Rex, and locked up behind myself. Not that it mattered, obviously people come and go all the time, but it gave me a false sense of security.

When I got out to my car my optimism for the day seeped away. There was a note on my windshield. And already from this distance I could see that it wasn't in Ranger's handwriting. I went up to my car and read it.

"I saw you," it said. "Stay away."

That was all. No further explanation. Was it from a woman who had fantasies about Ranger? Someone who knew Elizabeth and Paige? Some random person? Was it even meant for my car? I didn't think any of my neighbors living in my building would receive a note, but it was a possibility. They were mostly seniors and the worst enemy they might make is the person they cut in front of at the early bird buffet line. I put the note in my bag, and feeling much less happy, started out of my lot.

My first stop was to check in at the office. Lula was sitting next to Connie, sullenly filing about three months worth of papers. Connie was doing her own filing. Her nails. Hey, a girl from the Burg needs to worry about these things.

"Morning. Anything new today? Anyone deciding that visiting with the court just isn't for them?"

"Not a thing," answered Connie. "No high bonds, no low bonds, no nothing. The court must be giving away something if you make your appearance. People are actually going." She paused. "Bad day yesterday?"

How in the world did she know? My face must have asked that question for me.

"You smell like coffee, coke, and fries, and the only time you smell like that is when you've woken up with a hangover. And you don't get drunk on random Monday nights unless you've had a bad day."

Damn. She was good. She was right, too. Yesterday had sucked. I'd been shot and I found two dead bodies.

"I've certainly had better. The beer last night was welcome." I didn't mention with whom I had been drinking, nor who had brought me my remedy this morning. "On the bright side, though, I helped Ranger with an FTA and made a bunch of money, and I didn't blow up any cars."

"Ahh, but the day is still young," said Connie.

I looked past her to Lula, who was being uncharacteristically quiet and busy. "Lula? Everything ok?"

She looked up at me and blinked. She looked exhausted. "Oh yeah, things are fine. It's just that me and Tank had a busy evening last night, and I'm not as young as I used to be. You don't realize how many skills you lose when you stop being a 'ho full time. I can't do all night anymore."

Connie and I looked at one another. We didn't quite know what to say to that statement.

"Well," I said, "I'm off then. Page me if anything comes up."

I really needed to get working on finding Elizabeth, but first I needed a new car. Today's color smoke had been green. I didn't know what would make a car smoke green, but I bet it cost more than the 300 the car was worth to fix it. I budgeted 2,500 of the 5,000 I made yesterday toward a new car. Well, 2,800, since I'd be trading in the Acclaim on it.

An hour later I drove off of the lot, having upgraded my clearly dying 1989 Plymouth Acclaim with a 2000 Dodge Stratus. A perfectly forgettable car. Excellent for tails and stake outs. It ran well, and came with a bit of a warranty. Thirty days. I smiled.

Next stop was to Sandra's house. I wanted to see if they had gotten any more notes, or heard anything more. I pulled to a stop in front of their house. No blond head bobbing at the door today. I knocked. No answer. I waited a moment and knocked again. Still no answer. I pulled out my cell and dialed her number. I could hear the phone inside the house ringing. Nothing.

I went around the house, looking for anything obvious. Both her and Ronald's cars were there. Paige's toys were around the backyard, as you'd expect. The house was closed up tight.

My stomach clenched. I had that fear again. Dread. Something had happened. I ran back to my car and opened the door. When I was seated and looking out I realized there was a note on the windshield. A shiver went up my back. I grabbed it, my fingers trembling slightly. It read, "I told you to stay away. You're making it worse. Stop now before you and your family regret your actions. Tell no one."

I'm being followed, I thought. This thought didn't fill me with the horror it used to. It seemed someone was always tailing me. If it wasn't a bad guy it was a Rangeman SUV. I'd been checking for a tail, though. I hadn't seen one. That meant that there were multiple cars involved. Someone was spending a lot of time and effort on keeping me in their sight. They knew I had gone car shopping, and knew my new car.

I put the note in my bag next to the other one and pulled away from Sandra's house. I made the short drive to my parent's house. My mother and grandmother were waiting for me at the door.

"Well, look at that, another new car. This one don't have any dings or anything in it," said Grandma Mazur.

I nodded back to her. "I just got it. I helped Ranger with a catch yesterday and the payout bought me a new car."

Grandma Mazur's eyes widened. "I guess that was some catch, then, huh?" I didn't feel the need to fill her in on the bloody details. If they hadn't made it back to the Burg then let it rest. My mother was spending far too much time ironing and eying the liquor cabinet as is.

I turned to my mother. She was standing at the stove, getting tonight's dinner started. "Have you heard from Sandra and Ronald Rizzo at all? I was just at their house and they weren't home."

My mother shook her head. "No, I haven't. They've probably gone to the store, or taken Paige to the park. They'll be back in a little while, I'm sure."

I didn't want to scare my mother with the details, though I'm sure by now she'd heard that I'd found Emily buried in her cellar. She must have been worried. I saw an empty whiskey bottle sitting next to the trash can and noticed how uncharacteristically quiet she was being. I gathered the bottle was emptied at some point last night. So I wasn't the only one spending this morning with fuzz on my tongue.

Having gathered no new information in the Burg my next stop was to DMNC, Inc. The address had it down by the river. I made my way across town and was not at all surprised to see that it was a warehouse in an industrial park. I shuddered. The last time I'd been to a warehouse down here it had burned down after a bomb had gone off, nearly taking me with it. It had taken a solid month before my hair was back to normal.

I parked in the guest parking lot and made my way to the front door. A far too happy receptionist greeted me.

"Good morning! Welcome to DMNC, Inc. Can I help you?"

My brain had revived with the coke, fries, and coffee, but it still couldn't handle this woman. I stared at her, accidentally making her uncomfortable, before I finally found my voice.

"Yeah, hi. I was wondering if I could speak with Elizabeth Orfanelli, please. She's an employee here."

"Just a moment, please! Would you care for a seat? Coffee? Tea? Can I get you anything?"

Yeah, my gun. Too much perky.

"Thank you, no." My Burg manners kicked in automatically. Good thing, too. I sat myself down in the waiting room. The receptionist came back quickly, practically running on her high heels. My ears and brain couldn't take the noise this morning. I was glad when she sat down. She fielded calls constantly for Dominic Conzitto, sending some people to his voice mail while letting others through. I sat in a stupor for at least a half an hour before I realized that no one had come back to talk to me yet. I approached Ms. Perky warily and asked after Elizabeth again. She dashed off again, clicking and clacking the whole way, then dashed back. Apparently she didn't move at a pace less than a dash. I waited another half an hour, then asked a third time. This time, when she dashed off I watched where she went and left the building. I worked my way around the side, looking in whatever windows I could. I found a door cracked open toward the back. I figured this must be pretty close to the office I saw her go into, so I peeked in.

What I saw shocked and scared me. Sandra, Ronald, and Paige were in the room. There were a ring of men around them. I couldn't hear what they said, nor did they see me. Every man in the room had a gun in his hand. They spoke for a few minutes, then another group of men came in from a side room. There had to be 30 or 40 men. The new group of men took Paige with them. Sandra was holding onto Ronald sobbing. Ronald looked as if he'd swallowed something sour. As soon as Paige left the room the men lifted their guns at Sandra and Ronald. I turned away quickly, but not fast enough to prevent myself from seeing and hearing the discharge of all those guns. I glanced back in and saw Sandra and Ronald piled on one another in the middle of the ring of men, blood everywhere.

I ran as fast as I could back to my car, jammed the key in the ignition, and got out of there as fast as possible. I drove about a mile until I got to the first edges of town. At the first store I came to I stumbled into a parking space, got out of the car and threw up. I retched until my body was sore and my stomach empty. I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and looked at what store I was in front of. It was a small grocery. I needed to regroup, think through my options here. But I needed a Tastykake. Thinking wouldn't happen without a Tastykake.

I grabbed my shoulder bag and went inside and found the dessert aisle. I ate a Tastykake on the spot, grabbed a second, and took the empty wrapper and the full one and went to the register. The cashier rang both up and just as I was handing over my money there was a blast from in front of the store. The glass shattered and the cashier and I got to the floor as quickly as possible. When the noise and heat stopped washing over us we shakily stood. My new car was on fire in front of the store. I stared at it without emotion. I was still staring when the cashier grabbed my hand and pointed to the front wall of the store, now also on fire. The sprinklers and alarm went off. We ran for the side door, away from the flames. I was drenched from the sprinklers, still hung over from last night, and numb from what I had gone through in the last half hour. I stood outside, just watching the flames engulf the store. I heard the sirens approaching. I couldn't wait around for this one. The police would ask what had happened, and I'd have to tell them about the warehouse and Sandra, Ronald, Elizabeth, and Paige, and then who knows what would happen to my family.

I walked away toward the back of the store. On the next street there was a drug store. I went inside. I didn't need anything there, but it seemed a good place to be off the street and away from the police. I dug my phone out of my bag, barely registering when it was in my hand. I couldn't think of who to call; it was getting hard to think. Morelli was a no. He would ask questions. My parents would freak. Mary Lou was helping her kids at school. It seemed that Ranger would be my best bet. I stared dumbly at the phone and somehow dialed his cell.

"Babe, where are you?" His voice sounded concerned.

I couldn't answer. I couldn't get words out of my mouth.

"Babe? Babe, where are you?"

I stammered a bit. "Unh. Uh."

"Stephanie, tell me where you are! Are you ok? Are you injured?"

Finally my tongue figured out language and I spoke. "Drug store on Broad, down by the warehouses." There was a pause from him at this. I could hear the crackle of a police scanner behind him. He must be putting two and two together.

"I'll be there in ten minutes. Don't move," and he hung up.

The drug store cashier was distracted by the sirens and excitement from the next street. She paid no attention to my wet clothing and stunned face. I sat on the floor in the makeup aisle and waited. I still had the Tastykake gripped in my hand.

_Ranger's POV_

I heard the call for fire and EMS on the scanner for a car fire in front of a grocery store down by the river. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Surely car fires happened without it being Babe's car. I tried calling her cell, but it went to voice mail It wasn't like her to not answer. I tried a second time. Then a third. I was about to head to the scene to check things out myself when she called. The caller ID read simply, "Babe."

"Babe, where are you?"

She didn't answer me. I could hear her breathing, but that was all.

"Babe? Babe, where are you?" Now I was getting very concerned.

She could barely answer me. "Unh. Uh."

"Stephanie, tell me where you are! Are you ok? Are you injured?"

When she spoke it sounded like she was in a haze and had just looked around for the first time. "Drug store on Broad, down by the warehouses."

I stood for a moment taking this in. Apparently there couldn't be a car fire in Trenton without it being Stephanie's car.

"I'll be there in ten minutes. Don't move." I hung up and ran to the garage.

I got the Porsche Turbo and peeled onto Haywood. Babe was in trouble. She had gone somewhere she shouldn't have. I was willing to bet that her Acclaim was up in smoke because someone was angry. How she survived another car bombing astonished me. One of these days she wouldn't be so lucky.

I didn't know what she had been working on. She had been unusually secretive. Normally she told me everything that was going on. She had to avoid Morelli at times because he was a cop, and telling her family would be like putting it on the news, but she had never withheld information from me before. I hadn't outright asked for it, though, either. I respected her wishes. I hadn't even had someone tailing her. My hands gripped the wheel tightly. Stephanie was in trouble and I hadn't even known it. I should have put a man on her this morning. I shook my head in disgust at myself. It was obvious that now she needed my help. Even if she didn't tell me what was going on I could try to keep her safe.

I hoped.

I pulled onto Broad Street. Up ahead and one street over I could see the smoke billowing above the tree tops. I could hear the sirens of emergency vehicles that hadn't arrived yet. Morelli would be among them. Since Stephanie had wandered away and called me from another location I was guessing she was trying to keep her involvement quiet. I parked around the corner from the drug store, out of sight from anyone coming in behind the grocery store.

I went in and scanned quickly. Stephanie was sitting with her back to the makeup cases. In one hand she had a death grip on her cell phone, still open. In her other she held a Tastykake. That explained why she had stopped at the grocery store then. Her hair was wet and plastered to her forehead, and her clothes had left a puddle around where she had been sitting. But during her wait I don't think she had noticed. She stared straight ahead, not seeing anything.

"Babe?" I approached her, making a conscious effort to make noise with each footfall. I couldn't tell if she'd be spooked easily or if she'd not notice if a herd of cows walked through. As I got closer it was obvious that she wouldn't notice the cows. She was in her own world, mumbling to herself, staring ahead, her face the color of wet newspaper. She was in shock. She'd had cars blow up before, it wasn't likely to be that. She must have seen something else that put her in this state. Or she was injured.

I stood in front of her and looked down at her. "Babe?" No response again. "Stephanie?" She still stared straight ahead, though my boots. "Stephanie!" I crouched down and held her by her upper arms. I didn't want to shake her in case she had a head injury, but I wanted her to acknowledge me. Finally her eyes slowly focused and she found my face.

"R-r-r-ranger?"

"Babe, are you hurt? Can you walk?"

She shook her head no a fraction of an inch. Which of the questions I asked she was answering, I don't know. I suspected both. I pulled her to her feet and tried to get her moving. Nothing. Her face barely registered the change. Her body had tried to stay in the position I had found her, crumpled on the floor.

I looked across the street and saw that the emergency crews were moving to the back of the store, trying to contain the fire. There was a small chance that someone may come this way to check for possible victims, and to ask the cashier if they had seen anything. I carefully lifted Stephanie into my arms and took her to the car. I got her buckled in and we left.

She was silent for the ride back to Rangeman with the exception of the occasional mumble or sob. Other than trying to occasionally get her attention I stayed quiet as well. It was obvious to me that this was not something I could snap her out of. She would come out of it on her own; hopefully soon. Her phone kept buzzing in her hand. No doubt Morelli trying to get in touch with her, checking in. When it buzzed the third time I pulled it from her and checked the readout. Sure enough, Morelli. I answered her phone.

"Yo, Morelli. I have her," I said.

"Ranger? Where are you? What's going on? Why are you on her phone?"

"Steph called me, I just picked her up. Are you at the fire?"

"I sure am. It's a Dodge Stratus. I don't know where her Acclaim is. But it seems she wasn't actually involved in this one. I just wanted to talk to her and make sure, though."

I glanced over at my passenger. Her state seemed to indicate otherwise. But she hadn't called Morelli, she had run from the scene. So obviously she was trying to keep this fact from him. Though he said her Acclaim wasn't there. Maybe somehow she just happened to be in the store when someone else's car caught fire out front. Maybe tomorrow I would hire the Easter Bunny.

"She needed a ride, so she called me. She's kind of sleeping now, but her phone kept ringing, so I wanted to answer and put your mind at ease."

Morelli was silent. I knew he was having a tough time digesting that she had called me over him, and I'm sure somewhere in his gut was a nagging feeling that somehow she was involved in the car fire. When he finally came back on the line it was with his cop voice.

"I'm going to be here for a while working this scene. Have her give me a call in a few hours, ok?"

I agreed that I would and disconnected. Stephanie hadn't so much as blinked during the entire conversation.

When we pulled into the garage and I got her out of the car she had recovered enough to stand, though walking still took treating her like a marionette. One foot in front of the other. Our progress was painfully slow. But I let her do it herself. It seemed that by the time we were to the elevator she was moving a little more on her own. When we moved from the elevator to my apartment door she was solidly moving on her own, though she probably would have walked into a wall if I had not steered her. She had moved from rag doll to marionette to wind up doll. I got the door open and seated her in the living room. She still was staring straight ahead, and now she was starting to shiver. She had been wearing a fleece zip up over her jeans and tee shirt. I removed the wet fleece and wrapped her in my robe. It was something Ella thought I should have, but I think the only person who has worn it is Babe. I stood and crossed the room to the phone and dialed five, all the while keeping my eyes on her. When the control room picked up I asked them to send Bobby up with his med kit. He arrived a couple of seconds later.

"Boss?"

"Stephanie is in shock. She doesn't seem injured, but I have no idea what's happened. Can you sedate her to the point where she's calm, but not unconscious?"

"Sure thing, Boss. Give me a second." He opened his kit and picked through his medications. He selected one and filled a syringe. He pulled the shoulder of the robe aside, wiped down a patch of her arm, and gave her the injection. She didn't react to any of this. Within seconds, though, her eyes focused again and held. She moved her head and slowly looked around. She didn't look normal, but she looked aware.

"Valium," Bobby said. "A low dose. Depending on how much shock she's in it may wear off soon. If you want to talk to her you may want to do it quickly." He left a second syringe out on my table. "For later, in case she can't sleep."

I nodded to him, and he left. I sat across from Stephanie, my hands on her knees.

"Babe? What happened?"

She looked at me. She looked like she was in so much pain. Not physical pain, emotional pain.

"I can't tell you, Ranger. Oh god I wish I could, but I can't. Someone's life depends on it."


	6. Chapter 6

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure._

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 6**

_Stephanie's POV_

I looked around. Somehow I had gotten to Ranger's apartment. My clothes were wet, but my fleece was off and his robe was wrapped around me. I wondered if he ever wore it. Strange, that that's what my mind fixated on at that moment. I guess it needed something easy to think about.

I felt calmer now. I was still shivering from fear and cold, but I felt calmer. I vaguely remembered Bobby coming in with his kit. Maybe that had something to do with it.

Ranger was watching me. Studying my reaction. My lower lip quivered as he looked on. I hid it in a full body shiver.

Get a grip, I told myself. Paige needs you. She's alone now. I hadn't seen Elizabeth anywhere, but I couldn't imagine that she was still alive in any way. Whoever had done this had killed Emily and Lizzie, and executed Sandra and Ronald in the warehouse.

I took a deep breath and looked at Ranger. "I'm sorry. This situation sucks. Thank you for the ride, and your robe. Can I take a shower before I go?"

Ranger's face was unreadable. So unreadable he was frightening. What was it with my men and their faces? Mine was an open book. They could turn theirs off at will. Slowly, though, Ranger started to nod.

"You can take a shower. I have some spare clothes of yours from the last time you stayed here. I'll lay them out on the bed for you. Take your time."

I went into the bathroom and closed the door most of the way. I didn't want to completely close myself off right now. I turned on his shower and let the hot water steam up the room. When the room was warm I stripped off my wet clothes and got into the shower. I wanted to wash the day away, start again. Maybe I could take a nap and like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day I could wake up, start again, and make changes to make today different. I knew that couldn't happen, though. I sobbed in the shower. Sobbing for Sandra and Ronald. I didn't know them well, but to see their last moments, to see the fear in which their lives ended, it upset me.

I stood in the shower letting the water run over me for what must have been an hour. In the back of my mind the part that was still sane noted that Ranger's building had quite a hot water heater. Or he told everyone not to take a shower until I was out, to give me time. Twice he had knocked on the door to make sure I was ok, twice I had given him a grunt of acknowledgment.

When I got out of the shower I wrapped myself in one of Ranger's plush towels and his robe and went into the bedroom. He had left clothes, but when I looked out of the window I realized that it was dark out. Instead of putting on my clothes I got a tee shirt and pair of sweatpants of his and pulled them on. I rolled the waist of the sweatpants so they shortened to my legs and stayed snug on my hips. I padded barefoot out to his living room.

He watched me come out. In another time I think he would have been amused to see me in his clothes, but today he just gave a small nod and motioned for me to sit down.

"Hungry?" he asked. I shook my head. I didn't think I was going to ever be hungry again.

"I had Ella run to the store and buy assorted Tastykakes, just in case you want some. You were holding onto the one in your hand with such a death grip that the packaging had ripped and the Tastykake had started to leak out."

The package in my hand? I looked down at my hands. They were all pruney from the shower. I looked up at Ranger, confused. He sighed.

"Babe, what happened? Morelli's called. They ran the plates of the car that was on fire. A Dodge Stratus, registered to you as of this morning."

I looked at him and my mouth moved slightly. My brain caught up a few seconds later. "I can't tell you, Ranger. I promised I wouldn't. Things have changed, but I still can't." I could see his face tense briefly before he wiped all emotion from it. "I just bought the car this morning. Used the skip money we earned yesterday." I looked around quickly. "I-I changed my mind about going. Can I stay here tonight, please? I can't tell you what I'm doing, but I can tell you that tonight I don't want to be alone. Tomorrow I'll need to go, but tonight I just want to stay here."

He gave an imperceptible nod. "I need to go to the control room for a few minutes. Make yourself at home."

I nearly went into a panic at that statement. "Ranger, no, please! Please don't leave. Or maybe I can come with you. I don't want to be alone right now, not even for a minute."

"Babe, if you come down to the control room with me I'm never going to hear the end of you wearing my clothes in front of the guys. I can take a couple of phone calls here and let Tank handle everything else. You should give Morelli a call before he eats every Rolaids in the state."

I dragged my phone out of my bag and dialed Morelli.

"Cupcake, where are you?"

"I'm at Ranger's. I'm ok."

Silence. Then more silence. Then finally, "He said you had called for a ride. I guess that's what happens when you get another car blown up."

"I'm sorry, Joe. I just couldn't talk to the police about it. Not right now. If I had called you you would have stuck me in the back of a police car until you could get the details out of me. I can't talk about it."

"Is this about your friend's niece? And the two bodies?"

"I never said I found the second body. And I can't say. Things have changed. I can't tell you."

Silence again. I don't know which I found more unsettling with Morelli. A loud argument with a lot of hand gestures, or this deathly silence. I sighed.

"Joe, please. I've had a bad day. You're busy, and I'm somewhere safe. Do you trust me?"

"You know I do, Cupcake. I just wish..."

"I know what you wish. You've told me many times. Nothing is going to change tonight, though. We can talk about this later."

"I know. I love you. I'll talk to you soon." He disconnected.

Ranger had finished with his two phone calls and was watching my conversation with Morelli. When I hung up we went into his den. We sat and stared at the TV. My mind wasn't on it. I wanted to tell Ranger what I had seen so badly. I didn't want to keep it to myself. But I knew this company had many men. I saw so many in the warehouse, and obviously some had been keeping track of me. If I told Ranger and he went up against them his entire organization could be killed. Not to mention my family. And Paige. And I suppose me.

About a half hour after we sat down in front of the TV Ranger spoke. "I'd like to keep you here. I don't know what is going on, but someone is after you. I went through your shoulder bag while you were in the shower. I've read the notes." I bristled at the invasion of privacy, but calmed quickly. I wasn't surprised, I guess. "Someone is not happy with you. I spoke to Morelli while you were in the shower. A bomb on a timer went off while you were in the store. It was manually started. Morelli's guess is that someone wanted to make sure you were in the car when it went up, but they didn't want it to land in their laps. So when you left wherever you had been they turned it on. If you hadn't gotten out at the grocery store you would have gone up with your car.

"The grocery store that burned is nowhere near your normal stomping grounds. You were down by the warehouses. I know a few of the businesses that are down there. Some are up to no good. Babe, I've never told you to walk away before, but it may come to it this time. Whatever it is you're after, it's not good for you."

I nodded. I knew all of this. I just couldn't abandon a four year old girl, though. I was the only one who knew what was going on. I knew she had been taken from her family and was being held in the warehouse. I didn't know why or how or what to do about it, but at least I knew about her. Right now everyone who knew her to file a missing person report was dead or gone. She would disappear off of the face of the earth if I didn't look for her.

"I can't, Ranger. I have to do this, and I have to do this alone. Tomorrow I'll go and borrow the Buick and continue with what I need to do. I don't know what that is right now, but I have to keep moving forward. Tonight, though, I can't think. I can't feel. Today was horrible, Ranger. Worse than the day the Slayers kidnapped me. Worse than Abruzzi. Worse than any of those. I just need some place to feel safe and not be alone tonight, please."

He looked at me for a long minute. I could read him this time. Small changes around his eyes and jaw. He wanted to protect me, but he knew this was no ordinary case for me. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew what had happened.

"We'll talk about this more in the morning. You should get some sleep. I'll come with you."

He stripped down to his boxers and crawled between the sheets. I didn't think that I would be able to sleep. I laid next to Ranger for ten minutes before I snuggled closer to him, hoping his touch would help. It didn't. I wrapped his arms tightly around me and waited for sleep to come. Still nothing. After an hour of fidgeting I wanted to get up. I was full of nervous energy and I felt like I needed to pace. I guess whatever Bobby had given me before was wearing off and the leftover adrenaline was making its way through my system. I felt better, but I still didn't want to be alone. I felt bad about the idea of waking Ranger to watch me pace.

"Babe? Can't sleep?"

"No. My mind just can't shut down."

I felt Ranger nod behind me. Then I felt a pinch on my arm.

"Ow! What was that?"

"Valium. Bobby left it for me in case you couldn't sleep. I don't know what's going on tomorrow, Babe, but you need a good night's sleep. I'm here with you, I'm not going anywhere."

I felt the drugs take effect as Ranger's arms tightened around me again. I leaned back into him and a dreamless slumber finally took me.


	7. Chapter 7

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure._

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 7**

I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, though the fear from the day before was still making my skin tingle. Ranger was already awake and dressed next to me.

"Good morning, Babe. Sleep ok?"

His words were light, but I could tell that there was tension just below the surface. He was not someone who I would want to make angry. I didn't want to make him angry any day, but today would be worse than most.

I nodded at him and gave a quick smile. It was all I could manage.

"Ella has brought breakfast already. I had my men swing around to your apartment during the night and bring Rex here for a few days. I knew you would worry less if you knew he was safe. Why don't you get up, get dressed, and we can talk about the plan for today."

No teasing wondering if I'd like him to stay and help me dress, no light kisses or touches. This was a Ranger who meant business. He left and closed the door behind him. I sighed. Today was not going to go well. He was going to want to keep me here and hope that all of the badness went away. Or he was going to want me to tell him what was going on, and that could end up killing Paige and my family. _If_ he agreed to let me out it would probably be with a Rangeman tail, which wouldn't be good. I would have to assume that he'd put a GPS tracker in my bag by now. Standard operating procedure for a freaked out Ranger.

I dressed with clean non-Rangeman clothes of mine I found in his closet, brushed my teeth, and pulled my mass of curls back. No time today for gel and Ranger didn't own a blow dryer. I went out to the kitchen to discuss the day with Ranger. When I came out of the bedroom he got off of the phone instantly. Probably arranging surveillance on me in case I stormed out. I couldn't look at him directly. Every time our eyes met mine glanced off in another direction.

"Babe. I can't help you if I don't know what's going on."

"I know," I said. "I want your help. I don't want to do this alone. I'm just too scared of what may happen if I tell anyone what's been going on. This is far beyond me, Ranger. It may even be beyond Rangeman."

"And you think you can take it on yourself? Babe, I have highly trained men, ready to fight and die at a moment's notice, if necessary. You think this is something you can do yourself?"

My eyes got misty. "No, I don't think I can do it myself. I think it's something that must be done, though. Please Ranger. Trust me. I've asked for your help before in the past when I've needed it, haven't I?" He inclined his head slightly. "I've stayed hidden in the past when it was the best thing for me, right?" At this he rolled his eyes. Ok, I wasn't the best at playing the damsel in distress, letting my princes sequester me away someplace safe. But I had hid at friends' houses, and his apartment, and with Morelli. I didn't roam the streets constantly when someone was after me. "I've never lied to you, have I, Ranger? Or kept something important from you?" He gave the smallest shake of his head. "This is really so important that I need to not be hidden, that I can't tell you anything, and I can't ask for your help, as much as I want it. The price may be too high."

He studied my face unblinkingly. I swear, the man is part panther. After 30 seconds I couldn't hold his stare any longer and I looked away. He continued to stare. When he finally spoke it was with the quiet authority of someone who was not going to be argued with.

"You may leave but you will take a Rangeman tracking device, a panic button, you will call and check in with me every two hours on the hour, and I will have two men on you like white on rice. Understood?" I nodded. There was no point in opening my mouth to protest. He would simply revoke the entire option and tell his men to stun me if I tried to leave the building. "If I get a sniff that there is something out there that I don't like you will be back in a safe house by nightfall." My shoulders dropped. Of course there was bound to be something! I was going to try to get a four year old girl away from a company of at least 40 men all by myself. I didn't know why she was there, or anything about the company, but it didn't seem like it was going to be a walk in the park. I didn't know how to start, though.

"Ranger, please don't say that. I can't control what today will be like. I need more facts. I'm going to go to the office and make phone calls and use the computer. I don't know what I'm going to do beyond that. I will call you every two hours, I assumed you'd put a GPS pen in my bag again. Hopefully I won't need the panic button. Your men are probably going to be bored watching me."

There was a slight twinge of his mouth at that statement. "Babe, watching you is rarely boring." I blushed, not certain exactly how he meant that. "You're easy to look at, and you usually end up blowing something up or setting fire to something. What more do you think my men want to see?"

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. Typical. I scooped up my shoulder bag, ready to go. Ranger moved to my side. He dropped the GPS tracker into my bag, and attached the panic button to my jeans.

"Come on," he said. "I'll give you a ride to get the Buick." We left his apartment and went to the garage. We slid into the Turbo and raced toward the Burg, a black Rangeman SUV behind us.

Ranger was silent on the drive over, as usual. But there was no zone for him today. His jaw muscles kept working and he squinted his eyes every few seconds. He was working hard to contain whatever emotions he was feeling.

I didn't want to unleash a monster, so I kept quiet, pretending I didn't notice. My heart was beating double time and my stomach felt like it was on a roller coaster. I'd been through fear before, and terror, and dread, but nothing like this. This didn't happen and then leave me numb. This kept me panicked constantly. I didn't know what I was going to do. It wasn't like I had gone to bounty hunter school, or taken classes on being a private investigator. I was stubborn and I had intuition. Those were the two attributes that had kept my bank balance above zero and me alive. They were also what kept putting me in bad situations.

Ranger pulled to the curb in front of my parent's house. I reached for the handle, but before I could open it Ranger's hand closed on my left wrist like a vice. He held on so tightly my hand went white.

"Ranger..."

"Babe." He continued to clamp down on my wrist and stare at my face. He was unreadable, as always. I looked at my hand, white as snow now against his dark skin. He looked down too and released me with a sigh. "Be careful."

I nodded, my voice caught behind my throat, and got out. As soon as I opened the front door and crossed the threshold Ranger pulled away without looking back. I went into the house and got the keys for the Buick from my parents. My mother was in the kitchen, ironing. This was not good. My mother ironed when she was stressed. On bad days every sheet, every napkin, every item of clothing down to socks got ironed.

"Mom?" I nervously got her attention.

"Stephanie? You don't know what's happened with Sandra and Ronald, do you? You asked about them yesterday and I thought they were at the store. But I called several times and they've not called me back. It's not like them to not get in touch with someone. I drove by their house, their cars were there, but no one answered. Do you know what's going on, Stephanie?"

She said this in one big burst, her emotions obviously about to tumble out. Burg women don't show emotion like this. Mom irons. By the looks of things she'd been ironing through the night. The socks were so starched that they were standing on their own. The curtains weren't blowing, they were shifting their newfound weight. Even my grandmother looked as if she'd been ironed sitting in the kitchen.

I didn't know what to tell her. I knew what had happened. But I couldn't tell anyone what I was doing, and I don't know that I would have told my mother if I could have.

I couldn't think about it anymore. "Sorry, Mom, can't help you today. I just need the keys to the Buick." I snatched them quickly from their storage spot and ran out the back door toward the garage. I opened the door and pulled the Buick out onto the street and managed to get a full block before I pulled to the side and threw up. I heard the Rangeman SUV pull up behind me and doors open. Tank and Lester got out. I held up my hand. I didn't want to talk to them. I was embarrassed that I'd been sick, and now I knew they were going to relay this information back to Ranger and he was not going to take it well.

I got back in the Buick and drove to the office. It was nine o'clock. Connie had just opened shop and Vinnie was in his office. Lula showed up a couple of minutes later. I could see her outside standing out at the SUV, chatting with Tank. I had barely sat down at the computer before my phone rang.

"Babe."

"I was just about to call you to check in. I'm going to be at the office for a few hours. Connie is getting the paperwork together on a couple of easy skips, so I'll be taking care of them later."

"What happened at your mother's?"

"Nothing, why?"

"Tank said you went in, stayed for a few minutes, came out even paler than went you went in, got into the Buick and got a block before you had to stop to be sick. So I ask again, what happened at your mother's?"

I couldn't tell him. Letting him know that this had come in through my mother would give him all sorts of easy clues to follow back. He'd quickly find out that some of my mother's friends were missing. I'm surprised half of the Burg wasn't ringing with the news already.

"I just didn't feel well. Maybe a reaction to the Valium or something I ate. I don't know." Which wasn't a full lie. It was possible that's what it was. But more likely it was the look of worry on my mother's face, the huge pile of ironing, and what I had witnessed. Ranger was silent over the phone. I had never known him to be so upset for so long. His anger usually flared bright but burned out quickly. He was simmering now.

I broke the silence first. "I'm going to go now. I've got some work to do, and I want to call Morelli and see what's going on. I'll talk to you in two hours." I hung up before I had to listen to more of his angry silence.

I dialed Morelli's number. He picked up on the third ring.

"Hey, I wanted to check in with you. How's it going?" I tried to keep my tone easy and light.

"It's not. Emily Tully and Lizzie Spegrula are going to be keeping me busy for a long time. They were friends, but it seemed they hadn't talked in a while. Other than both working for the same company at different times there isn't anything in the relatively recent past to connect them." He paused. "Cupcake, are you ok? Who went after your car?"

"I'm fine. I think you know more about it than I do. I heard it was a bomb on a timer. I don't know who put it there, or when, or why."

"What were you doing just before you went to the store? Were you down by the warehouses?"

"I can't tell you, Joe. I'm sorry. And before you freak out, I haven't told Ranger either." Silence again. I was getting used to silence on the phone. "Look, I have to go. I'm in the office waiting for Connie to get paperwork together on a couple of FTAs that just came in. I'll talk to you later, ok?" And with that I hung up the phone.

Great. Just great. Now no doubt Morelli AND Ranger would be wondering what was going on. Morelli would be busy with his job, so I didn't have to worry about him following me. That just left Ranger. And with Ranger either he followed you or you made yourself disappear. There was no middle ground. I had a bad feeling that I would need to disappear before the day was out.

I sat at the computer and pulled up information on the Rizzos, Elizabeth, Lizzie, and Emily. Most of it I had seen already from what Connie had printed out already. But there were new details here and there. Pictures of the three girls at various times wearing different outfits. Usually expensive looking gowns, on the arms of different distinguished looking men. Sometimes in more athletic outfits, sometimes in get ups bordering on skanky.

The Rizzos were clean. They had lived in their house for the past 35 years. The mortgage was paid off, they didn't have car payments, no credit card debt. They just lived quietly. I couldn't see them being involved in this. Other than they had been murdered.

I pushed back and rubbed my eyes. Think, Stephanie! I told myself. Now that I had more information I put myself back in Elizabeth's shoes. She was 21 now, but at 15 her mom had died and she had ended up in the foster system. Which is to say she basically lived on the street. She was moved from home to home until she became pregnant. After that they put her in a home for other teen moms. Six months after the baby was born she asked Sandra and Rizzo to watch her and disappeared into her job, popping up all over the Northeast, sending money and a letter at fairly regular intervals.

So what did all of this mean? Ok, I'm a 15 year old girl. My mother has died, my father is gone, and I'm moving from house to house so often my bag never gets unpacked. My only constant is the people I hang out with outside of the home. I don't get into trouble, I haven't got a sealed juvenile record. Hmmm, that's kind of odd, actually, I thought. Normally kids in the foster system end up in two categories. They either get placed in a home that cares for them and they do pretty well. Or they end up in a bad home, or constantly shifting, and they end up in skirmishes with the law. Nothing usually big, but petty thieving and maybe a couple of joy rides. Sometimes prostitution or drugs. They don't have money of their own, or access to a car of their own, so they make do with what they could. Elizabeth didn't fall into either of those categories. She was on the street and moving from home to home, but she wasn't getting arrested for stealing or being a 'ho. She was getting money from someplace. She wasn't listed as having a job. She got pregnant at 16, had Paige at 17, and the day of her 18th birthday she started working for DMNC, Inc.

I thought it was a pretty good possibility that she had been working off the books for DMNC, Inc. since she ended up in the foster care system. But why not list her as an employee? The legal working age was 14 years old. And the foster system loves when kids have jobs. It keeps them out of danger. Something wasn't clicking about DMNC, Inc.

I pulled up information on them. Their website popped up. They were an import/export business in Trenton. That was fine and dandy, I knew that already. No mention still of what they were importing and exporting. I ran a news search to see if the company popped up in the headlines at all.

Nothing that looked earth shattering. Donations to charities the company had made, employees who had married someone important, just things coming up as a byproduct of the company existing. There was one mention of the company being under investigation, but it didn't say for what. It could have been anything from extortion to a dispute with their interior decorator. Every company was investigated at some point for something.

While I was going down the road for the company I did a news search for Dominic Conzitto. Now there were some hits! He was questioned several times in conjunction with possible stolen goods, or illegally imported goods, but he was never charged with a crime. The news articles were thick until about a year ago, then they stopped. Maybe he stopped whatever it was he had been doing. His company had never been implicated, just him personally.

I found a picture of him. No mug shots, but some pictures of him at formal events, rubbing shoulders with the city's powerful. He was stereotypically Italian looking. Dark hair, dark eyebrows, dark eyes. Average height, average weight. His eyes had a slight shape to them that spoke of something a little more exotic at some point in his family gene pool, but otherwise he looked Italian through and through.

I ran a check on Bruno Gregorio as well. He had a short police record. A couple of barroom brawls. Nothing major. He hadn't served any time, just community service. I glanced over the rest of his record. His picture was old, probably 12 years old. He hadn't run in with the police since then.

Going back to my theory, Elizabeth had started working with this guy when she was 15, but she wasn't listed as an employee until she was 18. And the CEO of the company sounded like a smuggler. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was probably smuggling in girls. Especially when you add in that Elizabeth got pregnant while working for him.

I looked at the pictures of Lizzie and Emily. Both had been pretty girls, and both had spent time working at DMNC, Inc. My feeling that Conzitto was basically a high class pimp strengthened. But these girls hadn't gone missing. They'd been murdered.

Three girls, all with no parents, all pretty, all looking younger than they were, all dead. This didn't sound good. It sounded like DMNC, Inc. chewed up girls and spit them out. I thought back to the note that was left on Sandra's doorstep. "I want what is mine."

I pulled out the picture of Elizabeth and Paige that I had. I studied Paige. She looked a lot like her mother. But around her eyes there was a hint of something different. I got a magnifying lens from the back room and looked closer. My heart sank. She had Conzitto's eyes. She was his daughter. And now he had her.


	8. Chapter 8

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure._

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 8**

I leaned back and looked at the clock. 10:55. I had enough time to run to the restroom and stretch before I called Ranger again. I wanted a breath of air, too. I used the restroom and decided to walk to my car and back. As I left the office I could see Tank sit up. I waved at him and he rolled down the window next to Lester.

"I'm not going anywhere. I just wanted to stretch my legs. I'm going to walk to my car and then back to the office, that's it."

He and Lester nodded, but I saw he didn't take his hands off of the keys. He was ready to come after me if I tried anything.

I sighed and walked to the Buick. As I passed by I saw a small piece of paper folded and stuck in the door handle. I pulled it out and read it.

"You're good at keeping secrets. I like that. But you still haven't pulled your nose out of my business. I have what is mine. This is over for me. I suggest strongly that you make this over for you. Before I make sure it's over."

I refolded the note, put it in my pocket and walked back to the office, waving again at Tank as I went by.

Precisely at 11 I pulled out my phone and dialed Ranger.

"Yo."

"Yo yourself. Just checking in."

"What did the note say?"

I sucked in my breath. Dammit. Mental note, don't react like that again where Tank can see me. I wasn't certain what to say. He had read the others.

"More of the same. I'm fine. Connie's got the skips ready for me and I think Lula and I are going to get busy with them."

"Babe, think about this. Just stop for a minute and think." Like I hadn't done anything but think this morning! "Tank and Lester are sitting out front. You're driving a different car from yesterday, which was different than the day before. Somehow someone is watching your actions, knew that you had the Buick, wrote you the note, and had it delivered, all under Tank and Lester's eyes." He stopped talking. I didn't say anything. When he started again he sounded determined. "I would feel a lot better if you were in a safe house. Give the skips to Lula or even Joyce for all I care. Go out, get into the car with Tank and Lester, and let them bring you here."

Now it was my turn to stew in silent anger. When I trusted my voice again to not yell I answered. "I can't do that, Ranger. This morning's deal sticks. Lula and I are going after skips now. We'll probably grab lunch. I would have said Tank and Lester were welcome to join us for lunch, but if I have to worry about one of them grabbing me then maybe not. I'll call you again at 1."

I hung up. That was twice in one day I'd had the last word with Ranger. I don't think that had ever happened before.

Connie was watching me. She had the files for the FTAs in her hand. "Ready?" she asked. I nodded. I took the files, checked my gun and bullets, made sure I had my stun gun and two sets of handcuffs, and Lula and I went out. She stopped to talk to Tank for a second, then we climbed into her Firebird and took off for the first FTA. The Rangeman SUV pulled out behind us.

I looked at the first file. Eddie Nelson. Wanted for shoplifting. He looked to be a pretty scrawny guy. I could handle him by myself, and Lula and I together could easily overpower him. He was currently listed as unemployed, so at 11 in the morning he was probably just rolling out of bed. He had no history of guns or violent crimes. Good. I wasn't in the mood to be shot at today. My arm was still throbbing slightly from yesterday.

Lula looked at me. "So, how do you want to do this?"

"He's probably home and asleep still. I say we claim that his sister called us because she was concerned about him, since he's just lost his job and all, and could we please check on him? We get the super to let us in and we cuff him in his sleep."

Lula nodded as I spoke. "I like it. Girl, your skinny white ass sure does some good thinking now and then. Course, you do all the talking, you're good at lying."

I didn't say anything. I just hoped it worked. With Tank and Lester behind us I was nervous about having an audience. I knew they could help if we needed them to, but after what Ranger said, I didn't want to get within an arm's reach of either of them.

We pulled in front of Eddie's building. It was a sad four story building. We got out and went in. Tank and Lester got out and stayed where they could see us, but let us do our thing. I checked the mailboxes for the super. He lived in 101. No surprise. I knocked on his door.

"Yeah? What do you want?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir," I said. "My mother is Amanda Billows, Eddie Nelson's sister. You know he got laid off a couple of weeks ago and my mother is concerned. Since I still live in Trenton she asked me to come over and make sure that Uncle Eddie is ok. But I haven't got a key, and he didn't answer when I knocked. She's concerned he may try to hurt himself, what with being fired and all. Do you think you could let me in? I just want to make sure that he's ok."

The super's eyes shifted from me to Lula, who today was wearing a sequined pink spandex top and leopard print capris. They widened slightly, and with a movement of his head he indicated Lula. "Who's she?"

I looked back at her. She was watching the exchange, licking her lips slightly. I smiled.

"She's my girlfriend."

Now his eyes got really wide. "Yeah? Wow. Uh, ok. Sure, let me grab the key for Eddie's place. Just a second."

I had said Lula was my girlfriend in the past. It amazed me how men reacted to the statement. Men reacted strongly to Lula most of the time, but put the image of a slim white woman in bed with a voluptuous black woman and their hormones go racing. After that they can't think straight. Well, not with their big heads, anyway. The super came back with a key in his hand. "Here you go. Eddie's just one floor up, in 203."

"Thank you, sir," I said with a small smile, and turning away from him I crossed to Lula, held her hand, and went with her up the stairs.

"What was that all about?" she wanted to know. "One minute you and he are talking and the next minute I thought his eyes were going to bug out. Then you come over and get all touchy feely with my hand. Good thing I'm secure in my sexuality or I would have thought something was going on."

"He just looked like one of those guys who would like to see you and me together. And I figured if I could get him distracted in that way he wouldn't think so hard about giving me Eddie's key."

"Damn, Skippy. If that don't take the cake. Worked perfectly, too." We were standing now in front of Eddie's door. Tank and Lester were at the bottom of the stairs where they could just see us. I listened at the door and turned the key, letting myself in. I could hear Tank and Lester come up the stairs. Fine by me. Things were going perfectly so far. I held my breath and said a silent wish that they continued to go smoothly.

There was no sign of Eddie in the living room. Ditto in the kitchen and bathroom. Finally we found him in his bedroom. Sound asleep, sawing logs for the world to hear. Thank goodness he seemed to be wearing a tee and sweats. Not that bringing in a naked man would have bothered me today. Normally, finding my FTA asleep and snoring would have relaxed me, but since I was shot just yesterday by a guy pretending to be asleep I didn't let my guard down. I made my fingers into the shape of a gun and nodded to Lula. While she got her gun out I got my cuffs out. I fastened one bracelet to his left wrist, and when he didn't wake up I moved to roll him onto his stomach so I could get the second bracelet on. He rolled without a problem and I hooked the second cuff to his right wrist. Still he slept on. Lula and I exchanged surprised glances.

"Damn, Skippy," she whispered to me. "That worked good! Real good!"

I nodded, but this was only half of it. Now it was time to wake Eddie up. "Eddie?" I said. When he didn't react I said it a little louder. "Eddie?" Nothing. "Edward Nelson?!"

That got his attention. His eyes snapped open and he groaned. He looked up at me, and then at Lula, then back to me. "Is it my birthday? Are you two here to make me happy?"

Unbelievable. We get our guy cuffed in his sleep and all he thinks about when he wakes up is that we must be hookers. I can see why he'd think that about Lula, but really, how often did that happen?

I looked a little more closely at his eyes. His pupils were dilated. He was still high from the night before, apparently. I didn't know what he had done. There were no drugs that we saw in his apartment, and he'd never been arrested for possession. Whatever. This could make it a lot easier for us, I thought.

I nodded at him. "Oh yeah, big boy. We're a present. I'm Stephanie and this here is Lula. Your friends thought you would like us. We have big plans for you. But you have to come with us, ok? Your apartment isn't in the plan. We have a better place."

Eddie looked as if he'd won a prize. He didn't complain about his arms behind his back, just slipped on his shoes in a hazy state and stood next to me, ready to go. Lula took one arm, and I took the other, and we started to lead him out.

"Wait," he said. Crap, what? I looked at him. "Are you sure I'm supposed to see where I'm going? Maybe you guys should blindfold me or something."

I looked past him to Lula. I shrugged. Why not. Lula found a black tee shirt that looked fairly clean and wrapped it tightly around his head.

"Can you see?" I asked him.

"Not a thing," he said. He smiled. All right then. Lula resumed her position on the other side of him and together we walked him out. We paused so I could lock up his door. Tank and Lester went down the stairs in front of us, and they stood at the front door while Lula guided him to the car. I knocked on the super's door to give back the key. When he answered he seemed disappointed to see just me standing there.

"Thanks," I told him. "My girlfriend and I checked on Uncle Eddie. Everything is fine. I just wanted to give your key back. Thanks so much!"

Tank and Lester had gone back to the SUV, and I went after Lula to her car. I found Eddie in the back, the blindfold still around his eyes, trembling with excitement. I smiled slightly when I thought where this was going for him.

"Are you ready, big guy?" I asked him. "The fun is just getting started. You'll see." At my words a shiver went through him, and an erection grew out of his sweats. Ewww.

Lula and I drove silently to the cop shop. We pulled into the fenced parking lot by the back door. Tank and Lester parked across the street. I pulled Eddie out by one arm, then Lula grabbed his other. We marched him inside. It was quiet. That was good, it didn't ruin the surprise for him. I leaned close to his ears.

"Do you like chains?" I asked. Again the shiver went through him. "Sit here," I told him, and I clasped the ankle bracelet around him. Lula hightailed it out as soon as he was secured. Poor schmuck. He thought he was going to get his wildest fantasy taken care of, and instead what he didn't know was that he was chained to a bench in the police station. I left him there, still blindfolded, and went to the cop in the cage. He looked past my shoulder and chuckled.

"Do I want to know?" he asked with a huge grin. "What's with the blindfold?"

I couldn't get myself to grin back. Not today. "He thinks friends have hired two hookers to do him, and we told him that he needed to come with us. Apparently he's getting off on being cuffed and blindfolded."

"Christ. Just what we need. A hornball coming in." He handed me a body receipt and I went to retrieve my cuffs. As I bent over Eddie I noticed that his erection had reached epic proportions. It looked nearly painful. He was breathing in rapid short breaths. As I undid the cuffs I leaned close and whispered, "Pretty soon, big boy. I want you to sit here perfectly still until someone comes for you, though, do you understand me?" He nodded vigorously. "Leave the blindfold on. There are more people coming for you. There are going to be a lot of us here today." As I pulled the cuffs away from him I dragged my fingers up the length of his arm, all the way to his neck and up to his ear.

Apparently it was all he needed. His back arched and he cried out. He was breathing hard and fast. A wet spot appeared on his crotch.

"Good boy," I said, and left, leaving a panting Eddie and a desk cop shaking his head.

Capturing Eddie had taken us a total of an hour, and Lula and I decided it was time for lunch.

"Where do you want to go today?" she asked. "Cluck in a Bucket, McDonald's, go get some subs, what?"

I still wasn't hungry. So I shrugged my shoulders. "Wherever. I don't care."

"I'm in the mood to get me some of them crispy fried chicken breasts," Lula said. She swung the car toward Cluck in a Bucket. "Drive thru or go in?"

"Drive thru," I said. Less chance for Tank and Lester to be standing nearby. "This way we can get our lunch and eat it on the way to the second skip."

I opened the second file. Alberto Mancini. Twenty nine years old. He was out on bail for solicitation, carrying a concealed weapon, and assault. It said he was seen picking up a prostitute, then beating her with a gun he grabbed from under his jacket. She lived, hence the assault charge rather than something more serious. But because it was his first conviction the bail wasn't set very high. Otherwise this would have gone to Ranger. As it was I was tempted to pass it on to him. Until I looked a couple more lines down. His place of employment was listed as DMNC, Inc. My heart quickened.

Lula was in the middle of ordering her food. She placed her order and looked at me, about to ask what I want. "What do you...," she trailed off at the look on my face. I shook my head. "That'll be it then," she said into the microphone, and she pulled forward to pick up her order. She kept sliding her eyes in my direction, but I said nothing. When she got her food we pulled forward, the Rangeman SUV joining back up behind us. I guess Tank and Lester didn't do Cluck in a Bucket.

"So," Lula said. "Where're we going?"

"Spring Street. Alberto Mancini. Maybe you know him from your previous profession. He was picked up for getting and beating a hooker." I showed her his picture. She shook her head.

"He don't look familiar. Good thing, I guess. But I worked Stark Street, not too close to Spring Street. How do you want to handle this guy?" She kept reaching into her bucket of chicken for a new breast. Every time she took a bite she made appreciative noises. I guess the chicken was good.

I picked up my cell and called his apartment. He answered on the first ring, sounding alert. Dammit. I hung up quickly. I looked at Lula. "Do you feel like repeating our performance? He obviously enjoys hookers."

"Yeah, a little too much, if you ask me. I don't mind pretending to want to put out, but I don't want to get beat with no gun."

We pulled up to his house on Spring Street. He was in the first floor apartment. I knocked on the door, getting ready to do the lesbian/hooker thing again. Tank and Lester watched from the sidewalk. Alberto answered, his eyes looking me up and down slowly. I suppressed a shiver. I felt dirty.

"Alberto?"

"Hmmm, that's me babe. Can I help you and your friend in some way?"

"Well, we were kind of hoping we could help you, if you know what I mean. Some friends of yours saw us on our corner and thought you might like us. My name's Stephanie, and this is Lula." I saw his eyes flick over my shoulder and his grin widened. He was liking what he saw with us. "Your friends paid for a whole afternoon, so we can move nice and slowly. Why don't you lay down on the couch. I like to warm up to my action with some massage. I've got a lot of oils in my bag. Do you like being rubbed with warm oils?"

While I was speaking I was pushing him into the room, pushing his flannel shirt down his arms a bit, trying to pin them in case he should get wise. I turned him away from me and tried to get him to lay on his belly on the couch. But he wasn't going to have any of it. Not yet at least.

"Wait a minute, ladies," he said. "I need a quick preview, to help me get in the mood."

Well, that was a problem since I wasn't about to rip off my shirt or do a lap dance. And Lula gave EVERYONE a preview just by walking down the street. So he wanted more than that, apparently. Before I could react he had pulled me to him and put his hand down my shirt. I tried to push him away but he had his other arm around my back, holding me to him. I could hear Lula searching in her bag, hopefully for the stun gun and not the .45 she carries. But before she could get anything out hands clamped around my waist and pulled me away from Alberto. Tank moved in front of me and pinned Alberto to the couch easily, cuffing his hands behind his back. Lester still had both of his hands around my waist, holding me away about two inches off the ground.

"Lester, you can put me down now. He's not going to try that again." Lester lowered me and released my waist but he didn't move away. I sighed. Tank was getting Alberto on his feet and patting him down for weapons. Alberto's mouth was moving and all sorts of sounds were coming out. I'd heard it all before, and today I wasn't in the mood to care. "Could you put him in our car please, Tank?" Tank nodded and moved Alberto out. Lula went in front of Tank to open the door to her car. I followed behind them with Lester at my heels. I locked Alberto's door and got into Lula's Firebird. We drove toward the police station with the SUV behind us.

I needed to ask this guy questions. I wanted to know more about what went on at DMNC, Inc. Maybe confirm my suspicions. "So," I said. "Your file says you work at DMNC, Inc. What do you do there?" Alberto stared at me as if I had three heads.

"I ain't telling you, bitch. Why don't you go down and ask Mr. Conzitto what I do yourself. He'd like that, you know. He'd like that a lot. You're just his type. I'm sure he'd spend a lot of time with you."

A shiver went up my spine. It sounded like what I had thought before was right. Conzitto dealt in women. Maybe other things, but definitely women. And Alberto back there was one of his hired goons.

"Were you at work yesterday, Alberto? Down at," I made a show of looking through his file to get DMNC, Inc.'s address, "Chelton Way?"

"What's it to you, bitch? Maybe I was and maybe I wasn't."

"We just want to make sure that the people we've bonded out are keeping up with their responsibilities while they await their day in court. It helps us if someone needs rebonding, like you will. That way we know they're a better investment and we're likely to get our money back. It's purely economical." Where do I come up with this crap? I barely passed math in college and here I am talking about investments and economics.

"Yeah, I was at work at the warehouse on Chelton Way yesterday. All day from about 10 in the morning to 8 at night."

I nodded. My heart was racing again. He had been there when the Rizzos were killed. I didn't recognize his face, but he probably was one of the people with a gun shooting. I was quiet for the rest of the ride. Lula and Alberto were as well.

When we arrived we pulled into the fenced parking area again. Tank and Lester parked in the same spot across the street, though this time Tank got out to escort Alberto to the door for me. I took over from there and sat Alberto down on the bench, hooking him to the ankle bracelet and taking off my cuffs. As I did that his hand came to my throat and held my face close.

"I'm going to remember you, Stephanie. I'll see you again soon."

He may have wanted to have said more, but Tank had seen him from the doorway and now had pulled Alberto's arm away from me. I was tucked into Tank's side and Alberto's arm was doing something odd behind his back. Now it was Tank's turn to lean forward.

"Stephanie is not for you, do you understand?" Alberto nodded. Tank released his arm and walked me to the cop behind the desk. He walked past and stood outside the door again, keeping watch. I saw him pull out his cell phone and make a call. Great. No doubt to Ranger. Speaking of which, I glanced at the clock. Shit. It was 1:15, I'd missed my check in time. Hopefully Ranger would understand that I'd been busy.

The cop stationed at the desk gave me my body receipt. "That guy you brought in before, Eddie Nelson?" I nodded. "You should have seen his face when we pulled off the blindfold. Man, I'm going to be cherishing that for years. Thanks." He chuckled at the memory. I nodded at him, took the receipt, and went out the door. Tank was still on the phone. As I walked by he grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. He handed me his phone. "He wants to talk to you."

I held the phone to my ear. Tank still hadn't let go. "Ranger?"

"You missed your check in time, Babe."

"Yeah, I know, sorry. Lula and I were picking up a skip. Though in the end it was Tank who did the work."

"Tank tells me you were just assaulted by your man, who's an employee of DMNC, Inc. Is that right?"

My heart stopped. How did he know who my skip was and who he worked for? And more importantly did he know about the connection to Emily, Lizzie, Elizabeth and Paige? "He just wanted to tell me something and make sure I heard him. He didn't hurt me. You know I don't normally look at who people work for, just what they do. What is DMNC, Inc.?" There, all true. I don't lie to Ranger as easily as I do to others.

I could tell he was trying to figure out how much to believe me. "DMNC, Inc. is bad news, Babe. I don't want you tangled with them in any way. If you get skips from their employees in the future, call me. Even if they're low bond. I don't want you dealing with them."

"Ok. Anything else then?"

"What did this guy say to you that he needed to make sure he had your attention?"

"Uh, just that he was going to remember me and he'd see me again soon."

Silence. I could tell that Ranger didn't like that. If I hadn't known who his employer was I would have just left it to angry talk, but I was spooked.

"Babe, I want you here where it's safe, do you understand me? Get in the car with Tank, now."

"Sure thing," I said and hung up quickly. I handed the phone to Tank. "Thanks. Ranger says to keep doing what you're doing. Lula and I are going to go back to the office now so we can get our checks."

I got into Lula's car before Tank could confirm with Ranger what his instructions had been. We drove back to the office and I had Lula drop me at my car. I gave her the receipts and told her that I was going to go home and shower and maybe take a nap. As I got into my car there was another note. I pulled it into the car with me but didn't read it until I had pulled up to the first red light. I didn't want Tank and Lester to be able to report this back to Ranger. They were still two cars behind me. They must not have gotten the change of plans. I double checked that the doors were locked, though, so they couldn't just squeeze in with me.

The note said, "You are stubborn. I don't like that you've talked to one of my men. Stay away! The next time I get a message to you it will hurt. I promise. As usual, let's keep this our little secret. We wouldn't want anything to happen to your big friend in the pink, would we?" I gasped. He'd been watching the apprehension! Or at least he'd had someone watching. My hands shook. I called Lula.

"Hey girlfriend," she said. "What's up?"

"Nothing here. I was wondering, what are your plans for the evening?"

"I've got to actually do more filing in this hell hole, then me and Tank have a date, if you know what I mean. I may not be able to walk tomorrow! Why?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just curious. Have a good evening," and I disconnected. Lula was safe, then. No one was going to be getting past Tank to get to her. I didn't want to think of the two of them going at it, but I was willing to bet that Tank had one eye still on his surroundings and at least one gun within reach.

Now the question was, what to do about me? It was 1:30. I had 90 minutes before my next check in. I had to make sure that I called on time or early so Ranger wouldn't talk to Tank. I also needed to make sure that Tank had no reason to call Ranger and find out what he was supposed to be doing. Though Ranger would probably find out in about 10 minutes when Tank and Lester hadn't shown back up at Rangeman's headquarters with me. Maybe less, since he may be watching the cars via GPS. So quick, where to go?

Mary Lou's. Her younger son was napping now, and her older one was at school. She'd probably be straightening up the house against the never ending mess and having a cup of tea. I drove into the Burg and was standing at her front door with my hand on the knob when my phone rang. Mary Lou and I had been friends practically in the womb, so I just let myself into her house, answering the phone as I went. The display read, "Ranger." Shit. This was not going to go over well.

"Yes?" I said.

Ranger's voice was steady, just like always, but I knew him well enough to hear the quiver of anger running through it. His tone nearly hurt my ear. "I told you to get in the car with Tank and come here. And now you're at Mary Lou's. Babe..."

I cut him off. "Ranger, I know. I just can't, ok? Tank and Lester are outside still," I went to Mary Lou's window and waved out to them. "I can see them from where I'm standing and they can see me. I'm just going to hang out here for a few hours. Maybe take a shower, then go to my parents for dinner. I'm not done with work yet, but I wanted to come and say hey to Mary Lou."

I could hear him grinding his teeth. Since when did he grind his teeth? "You have the panic button on?"

I put my finger to it on my jeans. "It's still here, it wasn't pulled off or anything today."

"I'll talk to you at 3 o'clock then," and that was it.

I blew out the breath I had been holding. Just then Mary Lou stuck her head around the door frame.

"Oh, hey! I thought I heard you come in. Do you want a cup of tea?"

I nodded. "A cup of tea sounds perfect. I was wondering if I could borrow your shower, too? I had a couple of icky skips and I'd like to wash them off, if you know what I mean. And since I was in your neighborhood I figured I'd come here and visit too, if that's ok."

"Sure, sure! Why don't you get in the shower and when you're done I'll have the tea and cake out." Mary Lou had grown up in the Burg with me, and now being a Burg mother and housewife she always had cake on hand, clean windows, and an ear for gossip.

After the shower I sat at Mary Lou's kitchen with a coffee cake and mug of tea in front of me. I still wasn't hungry, but the tea was nice and relaxing. We sat there in comfortable silence, as only great friends can do. After a few minutes I leaned forward and asked, "So, what do you hear? Bring me up to speed on the state of the Burg."

Mary Lou was off and running. She spoke for a half hour straight about who was pregnant, who had died, who was having an affair, whose kids were worst monsters than hers. I nodded and sipped my tea and just let her talk, soaking it in. Suddenly she said, "Oh, here's something more up your alley. You know Sandra and Ronald Rizzo?" I froze. "No one has seen them since two nights ago when they came back from their dinner at Pino's. Or their little niece. Weird, huh?" I nodded. "You think you'd like to look into it? You know, since you do all this bounty hunter stuff, and you've looked for people before."

I didn't know what to say to her. I guess the truth, for what it was worth. "I wouldn't know where to start. They may be at home or they may have gone to Florida for vacation. There's a lot of space between here and Florida to check out."

Mary Lou seemed to accept that, and she went on to the next item on her list. But my mind was stuck. The Burg knew something was going on. Within two days there'd be near paranoia and speculation about what had happened. I had to get Paige back by Friday or all hell would break loose. I doubt Conzitto knew the true power of the Burg. Such an intimate network of nosy people would have his secret out in a flash. Paige would disappear off of the face of the earth forever.

I listened to Mary Lou prattle on for another half hour until it was time to check in with Ranger. I dialed his number, and just as her oven clock switched to 3:00 I hit send.

"Yo, it's me, checking in."

"Yo yourself," he answered. He sounded a lot less angry, but still stressed. "You still at Mary Lou's?"

"You know I am. You have a GPS device on me, one in my bag, and two guys in an SUV outside. Where else would I be?"

"Babe, with you, it never hurts to double check. Or in this case triple check. Actually, let's go for quadruple check. Put Mary Lou on the phone for me."

I handed the phone to her. "Ranger wants to talk to you."

"Me?" she squeaked. "Why does he want to talk to me?"

"I have no idea," I told her. "Just talk to him."

She took the phone from me and said hello. The rest of her conversation included, "Yes," "Ok," "No problem," and "Good bye." She handed the phone back to me. I put it back to my ear. "Yes?"

"I told Mary Lou to call me when you leave. So you're not sneaking away from her, Babe."

I sighed. "I hadn't planned on it, Ranger. I'm going to be at my mom's at six for dinner. I think I'll go back to the office for a while now. I'll call you at five."

"Tank and Lester are off for the day. You've got Hal and Cal in the SUV now," he said.

Mary Lou's older son walked through the door, and at that moment the baby decided it was time to wake up and announced this with a wail heard around the block. I excused myself, went back out to the Buick, and motored back to the office. No notes on the car that I could see this time. Maybe they weren't following me anymore. It was probably wishful thinking, but I held onto it.

I parked in front of the bonds office where Hal and Cal could easily park behind me and see in. I hoped I wouldn't need to get out and do something on my own.

I sat down in front of the computer so it would look like I was working. What I was really doing was trying to figure out a way to get Paige away from Conzitto without anyone finding out. If she was his daughter he probably wasn't going to hurt her. He wasn't known as a beater, just a pimp. She was only four years old. I hoped that meant that there wouldn't be any interest in her for several years, but I didn't know his moral standing on that. I shivered. I wouldn't put it past him to be a sick bastard and pimp out his preschool daughter. He obviously has no problem with underage girls, but there haven't been any mentions of him being caught with little girls. Just a couple of questionably aged teenagers. Some, like Elizabeth, who looked younger than they were and were legally fine, and there were some who looked older and were legally not ok. So Paige probably wasn't in any immediate danger, but she couldn't be left there. He had no legal standing with her. His name wasn't on the birth certificate. I guess he could make the courts recognize him with a paternity test, but that would incriminate him in statutory rape, not to mention bring up the question of where Elizabeth was. And given his possible connections he probably wouldn't want to do that. So he'd just keep Paige someplace quiet and out of the way and let her grow up before he did anything with her.

But where? You can't keep a kid in a warehouse. There are too many employees and guests moving in and out. Conzitto's address on his license was his warehouse address. Same with Bruno's. He didn't own any real estate, but DMNC, Inc. owned hundreds of properties. She could be at any one of them, or somewhere else entirely.

I had hit a dead end. I didn't know where Elizabeth was. Her family was gone, her friends murdered. Paige was with Conzitto, and I didn't know where to find him. Following him on my own seemed like a stupid idea. I would be one car. He obviously had enough cars to put an effective tail on me, and was able to leave notes right under the eyes of Ranger's men. He probably had someone following him home every night to make sure the coast was clear. Depending on how paranoid he was feeling he may go to a different house every night, come to think of it. So following him before I was ready to move wouldn't do any good.

I needed help. There was no way one person could do this. But I couldn't tell anyone. If Conzitto found out I had asked for help, or if I leaked what I had seen, I was as good as dead. Lula and my family maybe too.

It was five o'clock. Time to call Ranger.

"Yo."

"Yo yourself. Just checking in."

"Any changes? Any new notes? Any more men assaulting you or feeling you up?"

"No, no, no, and no. It's been a perfectly boring two hours."

"Good. Hal and Cal will follow you to dinner at six. I'll speak to you at seven. That should give you enough time to eat. I know how mealtimes at your parents' house are sacred."

I had only a few minutes before Connie closed up the office. I ran one more scan for new news about DMNC, Inc. or Conzitto and I was shocked when a new hit came up. Apparently DMNC, Inc. was dedicating its children's center tomorrow morning. It was a big media to do. Dominic Conzitto himself was going to be there.

I put myself in his shoes. I've just kidnapped my daughter and had her guardians killed. She's going to be freaked, but what four year old doesn't like to play? I'll make myself the good guy and bring her with me to this function. Some fun, some pizza and ice cream, and she'll be mine. I won't need to worry anymore. Plus she'll meet friends among the kids of my employees.

Ok, then. There's bound to be a bunch of people there. It may be stupid, but as far as I could tell my best bet was to try to sneak Paige away from under his nose. There will be a bunch of kids there. Start a distraction, grab Paige, run. It was a plan.

Connie was closing the office. Vinnie had already left to do the last bonds of the day and Lula had bounded out with Tank around four. I had nowhere to be for an hour. I still wasn't hungry, but there was a nice coffee shop on the next block that I'd been wanting to try out. I didn't really want to drive Big Blue, nor did I want Ranger's men coming and standing next to me like my own personal men in black, so I stopped by the SUV on my way out.

"I'm due at my mom's house in at six for dinner, but I thought I'd go to the coffee shop down there for the hour. I'm just going to walk. You don't need to follow me."

Cal nodded, but nothing more. He never said anything more. Sometimes I wondered if he could speak. Hal, on the other hand, looked over from the driver's seat and spoke. "No problem, Bombshell, but we'll be close by. It'll be hell if you're hurt or kidnapped on our watch."

I guess I could understand that. I didn't like Ranger angry either, but at least I didn't have to worry about him taking me to the gym for an unpadded sparring match, or putting me on midnight stake outs for the next month. I didn't know what he would do if I ended up pushing him that far. Stop being my friend, probably. I made a note never to take it that far. At least these guys would have a punishment and it'd be over.

I stepped back from the SUV and began walking to the coffee shop I tried to think about what sounded good. Nothing much. Maybe just a plain decaf coffee. As I entered the shop I looked at the line. The hospital down the road must have just changed shifts or something. The place was packed with people in scrubs. The line had dwindled slightly, but no tables were free. Too bad, that was part of what I wanted to do. Just sit and sip coffee.

The line moved relatively quickly and in ten minutes I was placing my order. The barrista looked at me like I was from Mars when I asked for a plain decaf with cream. No caramel, no whipped cream, no chocolate, no flavors. Just decaf with cream. A few seconds later she had pulled it together and I paid. A seat had opened up, right by the front window. That was fine. I could see Hal and Cal out in the SUV, and they could see me. I sat and sipped my coffee. The person next to me leaned down to grab their stuff before they left and they accidentally dropped their pen in my lap. As I handed it back the man said, "Stay away from Conzitto, Plum," and walked away.

My jaw hit the floor and I felt the color drain from my face. The place was filled with the staff from the hospital and other people who worked on Hamilton, like me. Who was that person who knew about Conzitto? I decided that showing up early at my mother's house might not be a bad idea for once.

I gathered my shoulder bag and coffee and headed out. Hal and Cal did a U turn as I went back toward Big Blue. The encounter in the coffee shop had rattled me. I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking and I didn't see the person approaching until it was too late. He grabbed me and pushed me against a wall. My coffee dropped out of my hands.

"Alberto and Dominic send their regards, sweetie. They look forward to meeting you. Maybe tonight, even." He released me and ran down the street.

Cal and Hal were out of the SUV and across the road before the man let go of me. Hal took off after him and Cal stayed with me, his hand heavily on my shoulder. I was shaking from head to foot. Hal returned quickly. He hadn't been able to catch the man. He called Ranger and updated him. While he spoke he looked at me and handed me the phone.

"Hey," I said in a quiet voice.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. He didn't hurt me."

"Hal says that a man grabbed you on the street and said something to you before running off. And they saw someone talk to you in the coffee shop Tell me what they said."

I swallowed. "The first man told me to mind my own business, basically. He knew who I was, he said my name. The second man said that my skip from this afternoon was eager to meet me, maybe even meeting me tonight." I left out Conzitto's name.

"I don't like this, Babe. I'm going to have Hal and Cal escort you to your parents' house now, and I'll be by later to pick you up and bring you here for the night."

"Just for the night? Or would there be instructions tomorrow morning for your men to stun me if I tried to leave the building?"

Silence answered me.

"Ranger? Ranger, answer me, and don't lie. You've never lied to me."

"It's very possible that by morning my men would have instructions to stun you," he said. "It depends what happens tonight and how I feel in the morning."

"Dammit, Ranger, that's not fair! I have work to do, and I can't do it sitting in your apartment or in a cubicle at Rangeman. I need to be able to get out."

"Babe, if you would tell me what's going on I'd help you. But you're being secretive and sneaky and apparently having men stationed with you isn't enough. You need to be under closer supervision than that. I'll pick you up from your mother's at 10. I've already told Hal he's driving the Buick and Cal will drive you to your mother's. Hand Hal the keys to your car. I don't think your father would appreciate him hot wiring it."

I glared at Hal. He blushed. He wasn't a bad guy, but he was going to follow his orders. He had his hand out. I dug in my bag and got the keys for him.

Ranger was back in my ear. "Hold out the phone so Hal can tell me if he's got the keys or not."

My jaw was clenched shut in anger, but I managed to get out, "He wants to make sure you have

the keys."

"I've got them, Boss," he said.

"Good. Babe, get in the SUV and get buckled, and when you're in hand the phone back to Hal."

"Ranger, this isn't right. You can't do this. I can charge you with kidnapping."

"You can try, Babe. Somehow I doubt if you complain to the Trenton police, and they find out what's been going on that the charge will stick. More likely every one of them would shake my hand. I'll see you at 10."

I got in the SUV, buckled in, and gave the phone back to Hal. I saw him say a few words, then shut the phone, heading for the Buick. My vision had gone spotty I was so angry. I couldn't believe that my wishes were being ignored in such a blatant way. Ranger was right, though. If I talked to the police they would side with him.

I had to figure out a way to get away from my parents' before Ranger came to get me tonight.

Hal parked the Buick at my parent's house, came back to the SUV with the keys, and I went inside. I immediately called a cab and arranged for it to meet me two streets over at 7:15. We ate dinner, or rather the rest of the family did and I pushed my food around on my plate. I brought out some leftovers to Cal and Hal, and just after the seven o'clock phone call to Rangeman headquarters I left my bag with Ranger's tracking device, the panic button, and my cell in the kitchen. I told my grandmother that if someone from Rangeman should call to tell them I'm in already asleep. Maybe that would stop Ranger from showing up. I'd have no way to know, though. I went out the back, cut through a few yards, and emerged just as the cab was pulling up. But where to? Morelli was busy with Emily and Lizzie's murders, no doubt my apartment was under surveillance, and Ranger was just waiting to pounce to put me in a safe house. On a whim I took myself to the mall. It was public and unexpected. It had the added bonus of having a movie theater as well. After a few of hours of wandering the mall I looked up the movies and found that there was a late showing. I didn't care what the movie was about. I bought a ticket and had a seat. I spent the movie thinking. Thinking about Paige and how to get her free from under Conzitto tomorrow. I needed to find out what happened to Elizabeth, too. Sandra and Ronald were dead, but I promised them I'd find her.

When the movie was over I called a cab and had it drop me off in front of my building. Probably not the safest move, but my habits never had me showing up at home at 2:30 in the morning in a cab, so any goons, good or bad, out back keeping an eye out would probably be sleepy and stupid by now. The Buick was at my parent's, and as far as everyone knew I was spending the night there. This sent a momentary panic through me, that I had left my parent's in the position of sitting duck, but there was nothing I could do about it right now. It's possible Ranger knew I wasn't there, though. I couldn't call now and find out. Hopefully he believed Grandma Mazur when he spoke to her at nine that I was asleep and he had stayed at headquarters. I was too tired to worry. Tomorrow I would be free and I could help Paige.

I went through the front door of my building and up the stairs to the second floor. I listened at my door, but I didn't hear anything, nor did I see any light coming from underneath the door. I carefully put the key in the lock and opened the door. Silence. I had a pang of loneliness when I remembered that Rex was at Ranger's apartment. I didn't turn on any lights in case there was someone in the parking lot watching my windows, I just crossed to my bedroom and listened again. I didn't hear anything, I didn't feel there was anyone in my apartment. My spidey sense wasn't tingling. I slipped off my shoes and jeans, pulled my bra out from under my tee shirt, and flopped face first onto my bed. I was asleep instantly into a trouble sleep.

I woke up to a quick movement in my room and a feel of cold on my wrists. I tried to sit up, but my wrists were behind my back. Held together by handcuffs. The light was still off, but I could smell Ranger's shower gel in the room with me.

"Ranger? What are you doing?? How did you know I was here?"

"Simple. You weren't anywhere else, Babe. I've been looking for you since I spoke to your Grandma at nine. There's no way you go to sleep that early when something is bothering you. And you haven't been exactly cooperating when it comes to a safe house. I didn't think you would be crazy enough to come back here. It's come down to ambushing you in your sleep and taking you whether you want to go or not. You drive me insane some times, but I love you, and I need to know you're safe."

"Ranger, you can't! You can't do this. I can't tell you why but you can't. Please. Let me go. Please."

"No way, Babe. In the past two days you've been stalked, harassed, and found two bodies. Not to mention had another car blown up and burned down a grocery store." And he didn't know about witnessing two people being executed, I thought. "A new record, I think, even for you. There are two men out back waiting for you to make a stupid move. Morelli is busy. That leaves me."

"No, please!" I said. "You don't know what this is about! And I can't tell you. You know I would if I could, but I can't. Please just believe me that it's more important than me."

I looked into his eyes. It was dark in the room, but a little light was coming in from the parking lot outside. I could see him clenching his jaw. Thinking about it. In the past this had usually been the point where the cuffs were taken off and a partnership, or at least an amiable parting, happened.

Ranger seemed to be reading my mind. "Not this time, Babe. If something happened to you I would blame myself. And it seems far too likely that something may happen."

He leaned down and scooped up the jeans I had discarded when I went to bed. I looked at the clock. The display read 4:36. Bedtime had only been two hours before. I wanted to cry. I was tired and I was scared, but I was also determined. I let Ranger help me back into my jeans. He wouldn't even undo the cuffs so I could dress myself. I guess asking for my bra to be put back on would be asking for trouble. Never mind a shower and doing my hair.

Now that I had jeans on, though, the reality was seeping through my exhaustion. Ranger was going to put me in his apartment until this was over. Paige would disappear into Conzitto's circle. If she was lucky she would end up dead. If she didn't it would be much worse. It might be ten years before it happened, but it would happen. I was the only one who could protect her. And I couldn't do that in a safe house. I needed to get away from Ranger and hide. No easy feat, but I had the beginnings of a plan forming.

"My shoes are by my bedroom door," I told Ranger.

He picked them up and brought them over, but did not put them on my outstretched feet.

"I can see it in your eyes, Babe. You're not thinking of coming as easily as that. I'll bring your shoes, but barefoot you're far less likely to dash away from me."

Anger flashed and I narrowed my eyes. He could read me so well. I couldn't pull a blank face on, but I could lie with the best of them. "But I may step on something! New Jersey isn't exactly the cleanest state in the US you know!"

For an answer he leaned over and scooped me up and over his shoulder. His strong arm held my legs, and my shoes were in his other hand. I didn't want to hurt Ranger, and I didn't think I could get him to put me down by kicking anyway. His grip was too strong. I'd have to wait until my feet were on the ground. Ewww, my bare feet.

I could hear him mumbling under his breath. Mostly in English, but some Spanish as well. I caught phrases of, "Pain in the ass," and "doesn't know what's best," and several utterances of "too stubborn." Part of me was amused by this, but mostly I was thinking of how to get out.

Ranger carried me out of my apartment, down the stairs, and out the front door. It was still nearly two hours before sunrise, and I shivered in the predawn air, even with Ranger's warm body under me. I couldn't see where we were going, but it was a short walk to his car. The Cayenne again today. With the hand holding the shoes he opened the door and my feet never had a chance to touch the ground. He lowered me right into the passenger seat, my hands still handcuffed behind me, and buckled the seatbelt over me. He tossed my shoes in the back seat, closed the door, and walked to the driver's side.

My mind was running at full speed as he went through getting me in and getting the car started. I felt trapped. And like a caged animal the adrenaline came forward and I felt I could see much more clearly, hear much better, and for once I could think much better! I guess being kidnapped by Ranger, knowing he wasn't going to hurt me, was much easier than being kidnapped by a bad guy.

I looked around his car. If I twisted my body on the pretense of trying to be more comfortable I

could reach the buckle at my left hip with my hands behind my back. Ok, so I had a plan to get unbuckled. Now, how to get out of the car? I looked to my right. The door handle for the Cayenne was far enough back that if I twisted that way I was pretty sure I could reach it.

So steps one and two were thought out. I knew I could never outrun Ranger, so I'd need to get a head start, and then find some place to hide quickly. I thought about our route from my apartment back to Rangeman headquarters. It put us going directly past the Suds-n-Wash laundromat. There was an intersection right there with a traffic light, and the entrance to Suds-n-Wash was set off from the road and not visible if you were stopped at the red light. If I ran in there I could fit inside of a dryer and wait. I'd have to time it that I jumped out of the car as Ranger was slowing for the light. That light was always red it seemed. I had a depressing thought that with my luck the past few days the light would be green.

I sat in the passenger seat trying to project calmness. Or at least a lack of a plan. Ranger's eyes cut in my direction once or twice, but for the most part he stayed in his zone. I knew he was always alert, but his zone would be the best time to make this move. As we approached the intersection by Suds-n-Wash I looked ahead. The light was stale green. It should turn before we get there.

I wiggled my body as if I was still uncomfortable, and quietly and quickly released the seatbelt, though I held it tight so it wouldn't go flying. Sure enough, the light ahead turned yellow, and Ranger lifted off of the gas. I took as deep a breath as I could without making noise, and as we started to slow I let the seatbelt go and reached quickly for the door handle. I released it and jumped out of Ranger's SUV. I heard his exclamation of surprise, but I was already on my feet and running as hard as I could. It took Ranger several seconds to stop the car, unbuckle, and jump out and start to give chase.

Suds-n-Wash was your typical 24 hour laundromat, but at 4:45 in the morning it was deserted. I quickly ran in through the half open door and ran to the first open dryer. With my hands behind my back there was no way I would be able to get a door open. They were dark and shadowy, and I held my breath as I knew Ranger must be well out of the car by now and trying to follow me.

I sat in the laundromat, listening to my heart beat double time and double loud for five minutes. Nothing. No Ranger. Could have been that easy? I sat uncomfortably in the dryer with my hands behind my back and listened. After another five minutes I wiggled so that I was able to get my hands in front of me, but there was nothing I could do about the handcuffs. Nor about my lack of shoes or a jacket. Dammit Ranger!

I wasn't terribly surprised by his desire to put me in a safe house, but I was shocked that he'd go so far as to come into my house and kidnap me to do it. A little of the trust I felt toward him disappeared. I still trusted him with my life, I knew he'd keep me safe, but I'd always felt that he'd act on good judgment, not hasty emotions. But now, I didn't know what to feel. I wanted his help, I knew that, but I couldn't help Paige if I was stuck at Rangeman's.

I stayed in the dryer for another half hour, then I felt it was safe to come out. I slowly emerged and took stock. No customers, no shoes, no jacket, no car, no money, no phone, no Ranger. I sighed. Fat lot of good I was going to do Paige if I had to hide from both Ranger and the bad guys!

I stood in the laundromat and looked around. There was a pay phone on one wall, and as luck would have it there was a quarter laying on the ground. I guess someone had dropped it. By now I knew that Ranger would be back at Rangeman, trying to figure out where I had gone. I dialed his cell and waited, holding my breath. I don't think I could possibly have made him more angry, and I was scared. But I needed him. Paige needed me free and alive.

"Where are you?" was his greeting. How did he know it was me? I'm sure he had given his men the number of the pay phone so they could look it up, so I kept my eyes on the clock and vowed to keep this short, then move on. I didn't know to where yet, but somewhere where Ranger wasn't.

"I can't tell you. I'm sorry, Ranger. I need to be free. I need to work on something. I can't tell you what it is, but lives depend on this. I know you want to keep me safe, I know I drive you insane, but I had hoped that you would be there to help me if I needed you, not simply lock me up like granny's china and keep me from getting broken. Being a prisoner won't help me." I stopped and blew out a breath. "And I need your help."

I looked at the clock. Fifteen seconds had gone by. I'm sure by now they had the general area, and they were probably hacking into the phone company so they could find the specific phone. I had only maybe another 45 seconds if I needed to get away before they had it narrowed down to few enough blocks to catch me if I moved.

I sighed. "Will you promise not to lock me up if I tell you where I am? Promise me, Ranger? I can't tell you what's going on, but please, trust me. There has to be another way to get us both what we need."

The voice on the other end of the phone was silent. I almost thought he had hung up, but I could hear keyboards and muffled sounds from the other men in the control room.

"I know you're looking up this number, Ranger. Promise me and you can come and get me. Don't promise, and I'm leaving." Ten seconds. Nine, eight, seven... My cuffed hands rested on the switch to cut him off, the phone squished into my shoulder.

"I promise. Shit! You are such a stubborn pain in the ass, do you know that?! Next time I'm going to stun you and carry you out unconscious! Then I won't have to go through this." I heard him sigh. "You're at the Suds-n-Wash laundromat. I'll be there in ten minutes." He disconnected.

I thought about it for a moment. I wanted to tell him that there wouldn't be another time. I've holed up when I thought it was in the best interest of all involved. I do try not to be stupid. This is just more important.

Then it was my turn to sigh. I had so many emotions running through me. Fear for me, fear for Paige, fear for Lula, fear for my family, of course. But there was a small part in the back of my mind that was excited that I had actually escaped from under Ranger's nose – twice in one night, actually – and had gone off of the map. I was proud that I had kept my head and thought a step or two ahead. I hung up the phone.


	9. Chapter 9

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure._

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 9**

_Ranger's POV_

Sometimes Steph could really get me worked up. Lots of time in a good way, but times like the past day she made me so angry I wanted to hurt someone. I trusted her, though I probably shouldn't by now, and I believed that she would be at the Suds-n-Wash waiting for me. She wouldn't run off. She had never asked me for my help when she didn't need it, and I knew it had taken her a lot to ask for my help now.

I shook my head a millimeter and smiled just a little. She had been crafty. I was impressed and proud of her. She had thought this out. For once she was the level headed one, not me.

I wondered what she was working on that was so important, and why she couldn't tell me. She'd never kept secrets like this before. Not from me. From Morelli and the police, yes. But not from me. I was guessing somehow she'd gotten involved in Conzitto. Before she'd brought in one of his men as a skip.

I pulled into the Suds-n-Wash parking lot and went inside. No Babe. My anger, which had calmed down on the ride over started bubbling up again. I went down the second row, then the third, and finally I went to the last row closest to the pay phone.

I sucked in my breath. I saw her bare feet sticking out from between two driers. I ran over, my feet crunching on the laundromat floor. I looked for movement, listened for sound. I heard nothing, and I had seen no one in the rest of the laundromat.

She was unconscious, her hands now in front of her, still handcuffed. Pinned to her tee shirt was a note, for me.

"Ranger," it said. "I leave her alive as a warning for both of you. She has been a nuisance, and you have bothered me too long. Leave us alone or I will finish the job."

It was unsigned. It was also not as important as what was going on with Stephanie. This couldn't have happened more than in the past 10 minutes. Whoever had done it had been brutal and fast.

I didn't see anything obvious, at first, but then I looked a little closer. Her hands were on her lap, cuffed still. Two of her fingers on her right hand were swollen and misshapen, and there was a long scratch going across the back. She had a few drops of blood on her right arm, and it looked like the bullet wound on her left arm had started bleeding again. She had slight bruises under her jaw, around her throat. I checked her eyes, and they seemed ok, so I didn't think she had a concussion. I knew she would hate me doing this, but I had to look at her. I pulled her tee shirt up and clenched my teeth painfully. Her abdomen, breasts, and sides were starting to bruise already. I gently felt her ribcage and felt movement. She obviously had a couple of broken ribs, I didn't know what else. She was breathing fine and had no blood coming up, so I was confident her lungs hadn't been punctured. I felt her abdomen. No hard areas indicating internal bleeding. Good. I ran my hands down her legs. I didn't feel any broken bones or areas of blood.

She was in so much danger trusting her to a wide open hospital was out of the question. If Conzitto was after her, he could get to her in any of the hospitals. Plus broken ribs and fingers were covered in field training. My men and I could take care of it ourselves. I pulled her toward me and then picked her up, carrying her like I would a sleeping child, with her head on my shoulder. I used my body to stabilize her ribs while I moved her. I left her hands cuffed so they didn't swing and move her around more than necessary. I gently carried her out to the car, strapped her in, and drove back to Rangeman's headquarters.

On the way I made a phone call for Bobby to meet me in my apartment, and for Tank and Lester to get to the laundromat to see if they could find anything. I knew I needed to call Morelli as well, this was assault on his girlfriend. But that was not a phone call I was looking forward to.

When I got back to Rangeman's headquarters I pulled into my spot and made my way carrying Stephanie in my arms as quickly as possible to my apartment. Bobby was already there waiting. I laid her on my bed as gently as I could and undid the handcuffs. She was going to be mortified when she woke up and found out, but I cut off her tee shirt so we could get to her wounds. Bobby put some oxygen on her and gave her an injection of morphine before we started, and we set about taping her ribs back into place. I cleaned her bullet wound and wrapped some gauze around her arm. We inspected her hand and set her fingers and taped them to one another. The scratch was very minor, it didn't require bandaging at all. I put one of my tee shirts on her when we were done, and we finished with a sling and swathe to her right arm. Partly to elevate her broken fingers and mostly to restrict the movement on the right side of her chest.

Bobby ran his hands down each of her legs, feeling for injuries that weren't obvious. When he got to her feet we realized that her big toe looked broken. We set and taped it, and when Bobby left I removed her jeans, confirmed that there was nothing wrong, and put a pair of my sweats on her. I didn't think whoever had done this had molested her. A small consolation. I stepped out of my bedroom with the pieces of her tee shirt and her jeans and sat in my living room thinking.

Obviously she had gone down fighting. The bruises around her jaw looked like someone had picked her up by her throat with a single hand, but hadn't tried to strangle her. Her hands were cuffed together in front of her – because of me, I thought – and so she had two fisted him against the side of his head. The scratch on the back of her hand came from what? Maybe he was wearing glasses. I thought back to when I had run to her side in the laundromat. My steps had crunched as I got nearer to her. Broken glass. She had broken her fingers on the side of his head and smashed his glasses. He was probably sporting a black eye. Stephanie is right handed, so it's probably his right eye that is blackened. She may have even broken his nose, that would explain the blood on her arm. There had been no cuts under the blood. And her toe? She must have kicked at him. Without shoes to protect her feet her toe had broken when it connected. Could there be something else she had hit upon? Something hard? If he was big enough to pick her up with one hand and deliver punches with another he was a big guy. Her toe may have connected with his thigh. What would have been so hard on his thigh that it would have broken her toe? A gun in a holster, perhaps. Or even worse. Steph was known for knocking gonads into the next county for several unfortunate men. I felt a small smile tug my mouth thinking of the damage this little woman had caused a man so much bigger than she. I was nearly positive who had done this, and I was the only one who could do anything about him. This sounded like Bruno Gregorio, Conzitto's muscle man.

It was now 7 in the morning and I knew Morelli would be awake. I did not want to make this phone call, but he needed to know, and I needed to get help with the police. Maybe something had been left on her jeans and tee shirt that could help us track these people down to where they were hiding.

I dialed Morelli's number. He answered on the third ring.

"Yo," I said. I blew out a sigh. "Steph's been hurt. I have her here, we've treated her. She's safe. It was all my fault though. And I need your help."

There was silence on the other end of the phone. I could imagine him trying to calm himself down before he trusted his mouth to work.

"Morelli?"

"What happened?" came the rough reply.

"I went to her house this morning before she woke to try to bring her to a safe house. You know how she is. Suggesting she simply come with me to a safe house would have been a waste of breath. I let myself in and found her asleep. The opportunity was too good to pass up. I handcuffed her hands behind her back and physically carried her out of her apartment, carrying her shoes in my other hand." I thought I heard an exhalation of breath at this description, which may have been laughter in a different conversation. "I was bringing her here when she dashed out of the car at a red light. Turns out she went into the Suds-n-Wash. Where she hid in there, I don't know, since I looked in and didn't see her, but I spent 20 minutes looking for her in that area, then came back to Rangeman to try to find her. She called about 20 minutes later." I paused here, not knowing how much Morelli knew about what she was working on. He knew she was in danger, but she had often not gone to him for help in the past since he was a cop.

"Go on," Morelli said.

"She said she needed my help," I could hear him bristle at this, "and that I had to promise not to try to put her in a safe house. She begged. Pleaded with me. I promised, and she said I could come and get her.

"When I got there I found her unconscious with a note pinned to her shirt. She has three broken ribs, two broken fingers, and a broken toe. Plus other bruises and scratches. I don't think she was raped. We've set all of her bones and she's sleeping with a shot of morphine and some oxygen."

This is where it was going to get hard. "If I hadn't taken her I wouldn't have forced her into this situation. If I had given her her shoes she would have been able to protect her feet. And if I hadn't handcuffed her she would have been able to defend herself better. She shouldn't have been out on the streets where she could be found. This is my fault. I'm sorry."

Morelli was quiet for a few minutes. I let him be and waited. When he spoke it was with a sigh, not with anger. "I probably would have done the same thing in your shoes," he told me. "In fact I was going to bring it up with her tomorrow. Investigating these murders has me concerned for her. She can be so unbelievably stubborn! There have been many times when I've wanted to handcuff her and put her someplace safe myself. Lord knows I've threatened her with locking her in my bathroom before. I never would have thought she'd have jumped out of a moving car and hidden, though. She's safe with you now?"

"She's safe. I need your help. I want the police to analyze her clothes, see if you can get anything from them. I can give you a physical description of the man who hurt her." I didn't want to give them a name. I wanted to work this one alone for now. "He's a big guy, big enough to pick her up around her throat with one hand, he normally wears glasses but now may not be, or may be wearing freshly repaired glasses. He probably has a black right eye and maybe a broken nose. He was wearing something metal on his left leg at thigh level. Whatever that was she broke her toe against kicking him. And her fingers were broken on the side of his face."

I could hear him writing this down. He'd gone into cop mode. "The note. Tell me about the note."

I read him the note and described the paper it was written on, as well as the penmanship. When I was done I could feel his confusion over the line.

"Do you have any idea what this is about?" he asked.

I paused. "I think I do, but I'm not positive if I'm right, and Stephanie hasn't shared with me what she's been working on. Has she told you anything?"

"Not a damn thing. She's been very quiet the past few days. And I've been stuck on the Emily Tully and Lizzie Spegrula murders and I haven't been able to talk to her much. Send over the clothes she was wearing," I heard him pause as he obviously wondered what she was wearing now, and who had done the clothes changing. He mastered himself and continued, "as well as the note that was pinned to her. Plus anything else you can think of. I'll file a report and get everything analyzed as quickly as possible. Oh, and Ranger?" He paused again. It felt like he was about to remind me of his place in her life. Instead he simply said, "Thanks for taking care of her. Keep her safe."

I nodded at the phone and disconnected with an, "I will. I promise."

I had brought her bag with me back from her parents' house, so I grabbed the other notes she had gotten, packed up her clothes and the note from the laundromat, and called one of my men to bring it to Morelli's house right away, after making copies of the notes for our use. Tank and Lester reported back. They hadn't found anything at all at the Suds-n-Wash. I went back and checked on Stephanie. The bruises on her throat were more obvious now. Her color was good and her breathing was regular, but I left the oxygen on. I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her. I felt so many different things. I didn't normally let myself get so emotionally invested with someone. Not even my daughter. I never would be able to forgive myself for these injuries. I felt as if I had broken her myself. I was also still so angry with her for being so stubborn in the first place. If she'd just rationally thought about it she should have realized a safe house is the place where she should be! In the end I couldn't figure out which emotion was more powerful, and I laid down next to her and slept.


	10. Chapter 10

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure._

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 10**

_Stephanie's POV_

I woke slowly, like I was climbing through molasses. I hurt. I was confused, I didn't know where I was. I was scared. Someone had hurt me and I was in a strange place. I moved my left arm and legs slightly, trying to get a bearing before I opened my eyes. It hurt to move, and I gasped.

"Babe?"

A wave of relief washed over me. Ranger. I must be at Ranger's. I was in Ranger's bed. I still hurt, but that meant I was safe. "Ranger?" I mumbled. I felt his touch on my hip and I relaxed again and went back to sleep.

The next time I woke up it felt like several more hours had gone by. The pain was much worse now. I tried not to move, but even breathing hurt. I opened my eyes. Ranger was sitting on the bed, watching me.

"You awake, Babe? How do you feel?"

"I hurt! What happened to me?"

He looked steadily at me. "I was hoping you could tell me what happened. Do you remember anything? You called me and made me promise not to put you in a safe house. I promised, you hung up. Then what happened?" I tried to sit up and gasped. I'd never felt anything like this before. Ranger stacked pillows behind me and gently pulled me up by my armpits and propped me up so I was now sitting. Then he continued to look at me, waiting for me to remember.

"I called you, you said you were going to come and get me, and then I hung up the phone." I thought about it a little more and it came back to me. "I didn't even have a chance to turn around when I felt someone behind me. He grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. He was so big! I couldn't do anything. He picked me up by my neck and just started punching. He only hit me on my body, not on my face, but he was hurting me. I hit him back as much as I could, but I don't think I did anything. He punched me again and I remember hearing a crack and that's the last thing until just now." I looked around and gently felt the oxygen at my face and noted the change of clothes. I looked at the bandages and the sling. "What did he do to me?" I asked quietly.

"You have three broken ribs, you broke your toe, and you broke two fingers. We also had to rebandage your bullet wound. Babe, he didn't rape you, did he?"

I closed my eyes and focused on what my pelvis felt like. Everything felt normal. I shook my head. "Did you take me to the hospital? How did I get here so quickly?"

He looked like he had been hoping I wouldn't ask. "No, we treated you here."

"We? Who is we?"

"Me and Bobby. He can handle just about anything. I didn't think leaving you in a hospital was a good idea right now. Too many unknown people moving around."

While I was grateful that I wasn't in the hospital, I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that Ranger had undressed me while I was unconscious, and that Bobby had helped bandage my chest. Ranger had seen it all before, of course, but Bobby hadn't. I tried to put a professional spin on it. Bobby did this for a living, he was Ranger's medic on staff. My 34Bs were no more exciting than someone else's broken leg.

Once again Ranger read my mind perfectly. "For what it's worth, Babe, Bobby's seen plenty of breasts, and seeing yours just made him angry. You can't see under the bandages, but take my word for it, you could do a dot to dot under there going from bruise to bruise. Bobby did nothing inappropriate. I wouldn't have let him even if he wanted to."

I nodded. It made sense. Bobby was doing his job. It was vaguely sweet that seeing what had been done to me had made Bobby angry. Not that I'd tell him that. Ranger's men didn't like falling under the "sweet" category. Doped up on steroids was more likely to be on target.

Ranger continued on about my attacker. "I don't think you did nothing to him, Babe. I think you may have broken his nose. You definitely broke his glasses. Do you remember what he looked like? What he was wearing? Was there anything unusual about his clothes?"

I thought about it for a few minutes. He had been wearing glasses, it's true. "He had dark hair, he was much taller than you, and much bigger." Ranger is about six feet tall, and all muscle, but this guy dwarfed him by comparison. "Like a linebacker. No neck, broad shoulders. He was wearing black pants, kind of like cargo pants. But they were stiff. I kicked him and it hurt me. Just before I blacked out I kicked him again, though. That time I hurt him. I remember him dropping me as I blacked out. He was wearing thick boots. And a blue jacket. I don't remember seeing any guns or weapons. Just him." I shuddered. "Why didn't he kill me? Or kidnap me? Why leave me there for you to find?"

Ranger watched me. I could see he was thinking of how much to tell me and how much to keep me safe. So I ventured a guess. "Was I left as a message? They're playing and in control?"

He nodded. "And if we don't butt out he'll find you and finish the job. A note was left pinned to your shirt."

"Can he find me if you hide me?"

"He might. I don't think so, but he might. All the more reason for me to put you in a safe house."

I started to protest, but Ranger held up his hands in surrender. "But I promised I won't. And I keep the promises I make. You'd probably argue that if he's going to find you no matter where I put you, I may as well keep you where you can work. Yes?"

I smiled wryly. He knew me so well.

"Where in Suds-n-Wash were you hiding? I looked down every row and I didn't see you in there. You can't have gotten much further, running barefoot with your hands cuffed behind you," I could see a tinge of guilt in his eyes, but he didn't mention it and he went on. "I looked in that area for 20 minutes before I came back to Rangeman. I had Cal and Hal canvassing with me."

I thought about telling him. Part of me was so proud that I'd been able to successfully hide that I wanted to brag and boast. Part of me wondered if I'd need that route again and that I should keep it secret. I was saddened that the thought that I may need to run away from Ranger might come up again.

"I don't know if I want to tell you. What if I need to hide again? What I did tonight apparently worked." I waited a breath, and then asked quietly, "Were you at all proud of me, or just angry?"

"Babe, there was a lot of both going on. The anger will go away. I will always be impressed, though."

I smiled at that. "What time is it?"

Ranger looked at the clock. "It's 5:20 in the evening. You've been asleep most of the day."

At this I gasped and tried to get out of bed, grabbing my chest as the pain ripped through me. "I can't just stay in bed! I can't! This is too important. I can't believe you let me sleep all day!" I missed my chance to rescue Paige at the dedication this morning. Tears of anger and fear welled up into my eyes.

Ranger was around to my side in a heartbeat, pushing me back into bed. "You're not in any shape to go chasing bad guys right now," he said. "I 'let you' sleep all day because it's what an injured body needs, especially an injured body that has morphine running through its system. You would have been dead on your feet if you'd been standing. As for what you have going on, I don't know what it is. Remember? You wouldn't tell me. I'm also not in a rush for you to get up and back on the streets. My whole point of this morning was to get you to a safe house, wasn't it? Here you are. You're injured, and I'm sorry, but in the end you're safe. And we may have learned much more about these people because of this."

I sat on the bed and listened to him, trying not to cry. It'd been 12 hours since I'd called him this morning making him promise to help me. I may have let Paige down. Twelve hours wasted.

Ranger saw the look on my face and sat down next to me. He put his arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. "Babe, you've got to let me help you. I think I know who is behind this, but I can't see how you tie in. What if I tell you what I think and know? That way you're not telling me what's going on. You keep your promise. And I keep my promise to help you."

I nodded. I was so tired, and I hurt so much. But I needed to help Paige. If Ranger already knew what was going on, and he could help me, that would make me feel so much better.

"Before I start," he said, "are you hungry? I can ask Ella to bring up dinner. I know you don't want to be knocked out again, so morphine is probably out of the question, but I can have Bobby come up and give you a shot of something less powerful so you can think and not be in pain."

I numbly nodded to both of these. I wasn't really hungry, but it had been a couple of days since I'd eaten anything, and it was easier to say yes than to explain. Ranger got up and made the phone calls, then stood next to the bed.

"Do you want to eat in the kitchen? I can help you out. Walking with broken ribs can take some getting used to. Be careful of your toe as well."

He took the oxygen off of me and we left it in his bedroom. We walked, or rather I slowly shuffled and Ranger helped, out to the kitchen. When I was seated at the table Ella came in through the front door with Bobby on her heels. Ella and Ranger laid the table while Bobby gave me a shot. Almost instantly I felt the pressure and pain in my ribs ease up. I sat up a little higher and looked at what Ella had brought. Somehow she had gotten her hands on Pino's, complete with chocolate cake for dessert. This made me smile. I didn't think dessert of any sort had come onto Ranger's dinner table before.

We sat down and started to eat. It was difficult to eat with just my left hand. But between the shootings and the beating I had lost my appetite, so I slowly munched on a few bites of salad, then paused while eying the chocolate cake. I thought to myself that if I didn't eat the cake Ranger would know something was very wrong and he'd probably never let me out of his sight, but in all honesty I just didn't want the cake.

Ranger watched me, his eyes reading me like a book. I sighed, pushed my plate away, and looked back at him, my eyebrows up in a question.

He looked at me with concern. He was doing that a lot lately.

"When was the last time you ate, Babe? Your face looks gaunt."

I thought about it. "I think two days ago. I had a Tastykake after my car exploded."

"Babe, that was Tuesday afternoon. It's Thursday evening."

Had it been that it had been that long? Monday night Ranger and I had had Pino's and beer. He had gotten me fries and a coke Tuesday morning, then I spent the rest of the day watching people murdered and having my car blown up. I wasn't hungry Wednesday morning and was even less so after the incident with Alberto and the two people at the coffee shop. Thursday I'd spent unconscious. And now I'd had a couple of bites.

My shoulders sagged. I just couldn't deal with being pressured about food now.

"Let's drop that for now, please. What is it you think that's going on? You somehow know that the warehouse area near where my car was bombed is involved in all of this, you've seen the notes. What else do you know?"

He pushed his plate away as well, having eating only salad of course, and sat back. He took a long drink of water, then started. "DMNC, Inc. has a warehouse down there. Dominic Conzitto is the CEO." My breath caught. So he knew. Ranger noticed my reaction. "I know that Conzitto is one of the most powerful men in Trenton's underground. He smuggles just about anything into town that he thinks may be needed. He doesn't deal with the small stuff either. Your friends Dougie and Mooner wouldn't have dealt with him. He'd deal with the mob or the Ramos family. That level of smuggling. Massive amounts of drugs, arms, girls, cars, everything. None of it good.

"In the past I've had brushes with him. He's rarely happy when I'm involved. He loses shipments, stock, and occasionally his people end up dead or in jail, like his man Alberto. This has been going on nearly since I got out of the army and started on my own. One of his men was one of the first FTAs who I brought back, and when I did his man squealed about everything that Conzitto was doing. It wasn't my place to hear it, but once I had I knew that he was someone who needed watching and possibly removing. The police had nothing concrete on him, and of course the mob and the Ramos family would never implicate themselves, so there is never any evidence of him working. But his underlings sometimes make mistakes, and I try to see that they are caught. That's why I asked that you tell me any time you have an employee of DMNC, Inc. as a skip. I want to see what I can learn from his known associates. I've never been able to successfully go after the man himself. He's able to hide in an instant, disappear without a trace.

"About a year ago more and more mistakes were being made. His men were getting easier for the police to find and implicate in a crime, and things were starting to come back to Conzitto. He made one last ditch effort to clean up the people around him. He had 15 people executed. He scaled down his operations so that they were harder to track. Essentially, he started again. He nearly dropped off of my radar, but I'm still watching for him, still waiting for him to make the fatal mistake.

"His right hand man through all of this has been a thug named Bruno Gregorio. He's listed as the VP at DMNC, Inc. He's got to be 6'6" and 325 pounds. He's even a challenge for me. I think he was the one who attacked you. Bruno is big into motorcycles. He's big into everything. He must have been wearing his motorcycle pants. They have padding built in on the legs to protect the body against injury. Good for beating up 130 pound women, too, apparently."

He smiled slightly at that. It made the corners of my mouth turn up. So far everything he had said was information I had been able to guess about with what I had read about DMNC, Inc. I hadn't known the back story, but I was getting to know Conzitto and this fit. And it was Bruno who attacked me. I mentally aged the picture I had of him 12 years and it matched. But now I felt even worse about Paige. Her aunt and uncle had just been killed. Were they part of Conzitto's new ring? No, that didn't make sense. More that they were just in the way. Now that I knew more I knew he would be willing to sell her into a life of prostitution and slavery. It was what he did. His own daughter.

I wanted to be sick. I wanted to cry. I'd dealt with kids before with my work. They were generally tougher than adults thought they should be, but they're still kids. And they still get scared. No kid should have to go through what poor Paige is going through now. And if Conzitto finds out that I'm talking to Ranger, Paige will be sold to the highest bidder with cash on hand.

"What I don't know," Ranger continued, "is how you fit into all of this. Babe, I want to help you. I can put the entirety of Rangeman behind you to get this guy. I want to. It would be a boost to all of Trenton if he and his organization was taken out. He knows that you and I are together on this. I don't know if he thinks you've told me anything, but he left a note on you for me to find. I've been hip deep in this for 10 years. Please tell me how you're involved. It will help us both."

Could I tell Ranger what I knew? Could I take that risk? He didn't know I had seen Sandra and Ronald killed. He guessed Conzitto had come after my car. He knew I found the bodies. He knew so much. But not all of it. Could I tell him?

Babe?" I sat staring at my plate. "Babe, look at me," he said gently. I looked up. He seemed to be reading my mind. "I know you're scared that if you tell me something bad will happen. It's pretty obvious it's what you're thinking. I promised I wouldn't lock you up, and I will help with what you need. But please, Babe. You have information that could help me, and I know I can help you. Tell me."

I nodded. Relief and fear absolutely flooded over me and I started to cry. Crying hurt, but I did it anyway. Ranger came over and gently held me while I cried. I'd been holding it in for days, and the release felt so good. I soaked his shirt with my tears, and he just held me and stroked my head.

When I was down to occasional hiccups I gathered my thoughts. Now that I had gotten that out of my system it was time to see what Ranger and I could do about Paige. I knew just exactly what we were up going against Conzitto and Bruno and their group of thugs. I knew what he would do to Paige. Now we just needed a plan.


	11. Chapter 11

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure._

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 11**

Ranger needed to know everything. I saw how the two of us together knew so much about the situation, and what I knew would provide a new angle. I looked up at Ranger and gave him a small smile and a squeeze on his hand. He went back to his seat across the table. He spoke first.

"One of the notes that was left on your car mentioned your family." I nodded soundlessly. "I've

hired additional men and I have six around your parents' house. I'm assuming you don't want to alert your family?"

I shook my head. That would not go over well. They felt safe in their home. They wouldn't even put a chain on their door. The Rangeman employees wouldn't have a tough time keeping up with them, their lives were pretty uncomplicated. It sounded like they were protected. If Ranger trusted his men I trusted his men.

"Rex is here with you, he's safe. And Lula has been with Tank since their date. He's taking a couple of days from duty here and staying with her. I cleared it with Vinnie that Lula has the time off as well. She's taken care of. That leaves you. No safe house, I know. I'll make you the same deal I made you when we were looking for Dickie. You and I work together on this. You don't go off on your own, I include you in everything, and you include me in everything. No more secrets. Or I leave you here with instructions to be stunned if you try to leave. Deal?"

I didn't feel as if I had a whole lot of choice, but in the past working as Ranger's partner had worked out for me. I knew how much it took for him to even offer me this when what he'd really like to do is lock me away.

"It's a deal," I told him. "I've got a lot to tell you."

He nodded, came around to my side of the table and helped me to my feet. "The couch will probably be more comfortable for you. You should put your toe up anyway so it doesn't swell as much." We made our way to the living room. Ranger helped me sit down before he retrieved some pillows from his bed and put them against the arm of the couch. He helped me maneuver so that I was sitting with my legs outstretched and my back against the pillows. He sat at the other end, putting my feet up on his lap. In another time this would have been a prelude to an evening filled with sexual tension, but tonight it was just the easiest way for him to keep an eye on me and for me to be comfortable with my various injuries. The pain medication was still working, the cry had been good, and I found myself relaxing. Everyone was safe. This was going to work.

I started. "Today is Thursday. Sunday evening my mother asked for my help. Friends of hers, Sandra and Ronald Rizzo, were missing their niece. They had reported her missing with the police, but without a permanent address or a residence history anywhere there was no way for the police to start a search for her. So the Rizzos asked me to check into it. I haven't gotten much closer to finding Elizabeth at all, but I found that she'd been working officially for DMNC, Inc. for the past three years, but I suspect that she's been working for them since she was 15.

"Sandra and Ronald are – were – caring for her daughter, Paige. Paige is four and a half years old now. Elizabeth hasn't actively been Paige's mother in four years, but she sends letters, calls occasionally, and whatever money she could spare she would send. Anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars to thousands of dollars."

Ranger nodded but kept silent. I knew he was probably thinking of his daughter and his relationship with her and her mother and stepfather. I could see he had picked up on the tense change, but he didn't ask any questions yet.

"With what you told me it sounds like Elizabeth is one of Conzitto's girls and her movements and pay depended on who he had given her to at that current moment. I don't know why this situation came to a head now, but I believe that Conzitto found out that Paige is his daughter. I've seen pictures of both of them. They have the same eyes. Sandra and Ronald had a note on their doorstep too, 'I want what is mine.' Elizabeth had left the father's name blank on Paige's birth certificate, but if you look for it you can see it.

"I was going around trying to get information about Elizabeth from her friends when I found Emily and Lizzie's bodies. Emily's was a complete accident. Lizzie's was too, but I wasn't as surprised and I didn't want to get involved. So I called it in anonymously. Morelli doesn't even know for sure that I was the one who called it in.

"That was my Monday. Tuesday I went to the office and did some computer work. I bought a new car, and stopped by Sandra and Ronald's. They weren't home at all. So by now I had gone looking for Emily and Lizzie and found them dead. Sandra, Ronald, and Paige weren't home. I had gotten the address of DMNC, Inc. and thought that should be my next stop. I drove down to the warehouse and asked to speak to Elizabeth. I was told to wait, and after I asked two more times over the course of an hour I watched where the receptionist went and went around the outside of the building, hoping to find a different entrance into Conzitto's office.

"Instead, I saw a ring of men standing around Sandra, Ronald, and Paige. There were about 30 men there. Another bunch of men came in and took Paige away. All of them were armed. They looked like street thugs. Actually, when I had Alberto Mancini in the car the next day I asked if he had been at work and he said he had. I don't think he knew I'd been there, though. But there were 30 Alberto Mancini types in the room around Sandra and Ronald. As soon as Paige had been taken away they opened fire." I felt the tears welling up again. "I-I couldn't turn away fast enough. I tried but I couldn't. I saw the whole thing!" I couldn't help it. Tears were flowing now and I was sobbing again. Ranger moved my legs off of him and leaned forward, putting his forehead to my forehead, stroking my cheek, wiping away the tears.

"Babe," he said, finally speaking for the first time since I started. "I'm sorry you saw that." He blew out a mouthful of air. "Now I know why you were so anxious not to be alone the other night, why you needed the Valium to sleep. You were also tossing and turning and sweating early this morning when I broke into your apartment. I wish you would have told me. When this is done I want you to talk to someone, even if it's just my men. Part of the Rangers training is psychological. We can help, and you're already comfortable with us. Even the police have to talk to someone when they witness someone being killed."

I was calming down again. I nodded. Ranger leaned back again and put my feet back up on his lap. I took a deep breath and resumed my narration.

"I got away from the warehouse as fast as possible after the...incident. I had to stop at the first parking lot I found to pull over and throw up. After that I wanted Tastykakes. I can think much better with Tastykakes running through my system." He grinned at that. "I was in the store when my car exploded. I knew that if I stayed around I would be questioned by the police about where I had been, and that might get back to Conzitto. He had just left the note about going after my family a couple of hours before. I had just bought the car, so no one knew that it would be mine. At least not right away. A lot of what happened right after the explosion is a bit foggy, but I remember that I needed to get away so no one knew I was there. The next thing I know I'm here, with you."

"You went to the drug store on the next street and called me, Babe. You were in shock, you couldn't even walk when I found you. I gathered that since you had left the scene rather than stay you didn't want to be found. And like you said, the car was new, so only Morelli was looking for you right away."  
"Morelli? Why would he be looking for me? Did you talk to him?"

Ranger nodded. "He called your cell several times. He didn't know that it was you, but given your history of blowing up cars I think he just wanted to hear your voice. I told him you were with me and that you'd talk to him later. It's long past the point, Babe, where we can't help but think of you when we hear about a car fire." He grinned.

Wow. I'd really been out of it. I had no memory of any of this. "Thanks for taking me away from there. You were right, I didn't want to be found." I took a breath and jumped back into the story.

"You know what happened that night. I stayed here, and the next morning I went to work. I did computer work and found the pictures of Conzitto that showed me that he was Paige's father. I learned a little bit about the company. Lula and I took care of some FTAs, one of whom was Alberto Mancini. It was just fate that he worked for DMNC, Inc. So I casually asked if he had been at work the day before. He told me he had. I'm positive he was one of the men holding a gun. I wouldn't be able to identify him, though."

I could see Ranger working through that piece of information. That was something he might be able to use.

"Alberto grabbed me and told me that he would see me later when I released him from the cuffs. Tank stepped in to help with that. I spent a few hours with Mary Lou, then went back to the office. Just as we were closing up I saw that there was a press release from DMNC, Inc. say that they were dedicating a new child center at the warehouse on Thursday. Today. Conzitto was going to be there. I figured that if I had just kidnapped my daughter and killed the only people she knew as her parents that I'd want to get myself on her good side pretty quickly. So a big party with toys and food and ice cream would be the way to do it. I was positive that Paige was going to be there with him, even if he never presented her as his daughter. His name isn't on her birth certificate. He hasn't got a legal leg to stand on. Paige was born when Elizabeth was 17, a minor. If he admits paternity then he admits to rape. Plus with Elizabeth missing he can't exactly drag up the whole story of her parentage. But he wanted her to like him. I guess kids are easier to keep under control if they don't hate you. Though he's going to need to think of a more long term situation than a party. I can't see him as a full time father.

"I didn't have a concrete plan, but I was going to go into the warehouse this morning during the dedication and take Paige from him. It's wasn't a good plan, but it was all I had. I had looked up Conzitto's real estate holdings. He didn't have any. And DMNC, Inc. had too many to go through. The child center dedication was my best bet to get Paige. But then you came to my apartment this morning, and now here I am."

Ranger sat and digested what I had said. After several minutes he asked, "Do you know if Alberto Mancini was rebonded again already?"

"Vinnie was bonding him out at the end of the day yesterday. So he should be back at his house by now. Why?"

"I, we, need information about Conzitto's movements. I've found in the past that his employees are usually good sources of intel, provided you motivate them properly."

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"I need you to look up Alberto Mancini for me, make sure he's home. I also want you to run constant searches for Dominic Conzitto and DMNC, Inc. I want to know any time those names come up on the radar." He ended that call and immediately started another. "Yo, it's me. Have you gotten anything back from Steph's clothes yet?"

My eyebrows went up when I heard this. I knew that Ranger had put me in his clothes, but I had just assumed that the clothes I had been wearing were with Ella being washed. None of my wounds had involved blood, so there would have been no reason I couldn't have worn them again.

Ranger watched my face as he listened on the phone. He nodded, then I could feel his body tense, even as he kept his mouth and voice constant. Suddenly, he handed the phone to me. I looked at him questioningly.

"Morelli," he said.

I put the phone to my ear. "Joe?"

Now it was his turn to let out a mouthful of air. "Cupcake. How're you doing? Are you feeling ok?"

"I'm ok right now. Bobby gave me some pain meds and he helped patch me up. I'm no expert, but it seems like he's done a good job."

"We analyzed the clothes you were wearing when you were attacked. Something came up that may be helpful to Ranger. He may not have said as much, but I could tell. What are you and he up to?"

"Are you asking that as a cop, or as a friend?"

"Shit, Steph. Does there have to be that distinction?"

"I'm sorry Joe."

"You've told Ranger, but you won't tell me? Again?"

"Joe, it's not like that. You're a cop. And the cops can't be involved in this. It's nothing personal, please realize that. Just as there are parts of your job that you can't tell me about, there are parts of mine that I can't tell you about. Ranger and I work together. I don't get jealous that your partners know more about what's going on at any one time than I might. That's just the way it is." I stopped. I wasn't in the mood for this argument again. I knew where it was going. That Morelli was unhappy that I had to make this choice sometimes, that he didn't like that I worked with Ranger, or that I was a bounty hunter.

"Joe, I'm hurt. I'm tired. I don't want to go through this again. Let's just leave it at this tonight, ok? Please?"

I could hear him getting himself under control. My comparison of our jobs rang true, and even though he didn't like it he would react with professionalism.

"I love you, Cupcake. I don't like seeing you hurt, knowing that your life is filled with this shit."

"I know. I don't like that my life is filled with this shit either. Some days I wish I still bought lingerie. But you know me. I've always wanted to do something different. I don't regret this, Joe. This is my life, and most days I enjoy it."

There was silence for about 30 seconds. "Joe? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." He sighed. "I love you. I'll talk to you later, ok? Put Ranger back on."

I handed the phone back and watched the rest of Morelli's conversation with Ranger. Ranger's eyes never left mine, but he only spoke three words. "Yo... I understand."

He hung up with Morelli, and before I could start asking him questions he was back on his phone. "Me again. Find out where DMNC, Inc. has real estate. Let me know if there's anything north of Washington Crossing."

After he hung up I started pressuring him. "So, what did you find out?"

"Morelli mentioned three different ways he would cause me pain if I allowed you to be injured, or worse, if I made a move on you. Also, there was dirt on your shirt and jeans that comes from only one area around Trenton. There's a quarry north of Washington Crossing. Bruno apparently had ridden on those roads on his way to meet you and had it on his pants and hands. Otherwise it would have brushed off somewhere. They also found small blond hairs on your shirt, freshly cut. I suspect that Conzitto has Paige at a house near the quarry and they cut her hair to help disguise her. Bruno is Conzitto's right hand man. He's probably the only man who knows Conzitto's secret, so he'd be there at all times."

We digested this information in silence for a few minutes. Then Ranger's phone rang.

"Yo." He sat and listened. "Understood...We can use that. Get a false dossier up for Ella and brief her. I want the usual equipment on her; a GPS pen and a panic button. Have her set up an appointment. Get a non-Rangeman car ready for her, with tracking, for the morning." He hung up.

"Alberto Mancini is dead. His body was found this afternoon in the river. He'd been executed."

I sucked in my breath. While I didn't particularly like Alberto or his wandering hands at all, I hadn't wanted him to be killed. "What else? What about Ella?"

"You were right about the long term solution to being a parent. Conzitto has advertised, in a roundabout way, for a nanny position. He's accepting applicants. He doesn't know Ella, and she's an accomplished undercover agent when the need arises. She used to act." He smiled at this. "I want her to go and check it out and report back. Even if she's not hired we can find out what Conzitto is looking for, where she would be expected to work, and how many people there are milling about in his inner circle. Like you said, he can't acknowledge paternity. So there aren't going to be too many people he trusts knowing he's hiring a nanny. He's not going to just have open interviews in the warehouse. So we'll send Ella in and see what she can find out for us."

I was nervous for Ella. She always seemed like such a sweet and innocent lady. I guess she must know what goes on here, after all she helps keep the men comfortable and her husband takes care of the building. But putting her into the lion's den seemed quite dangerous.

Plus my stomach churned for Alberto. He was sleaze, but he didn't deserve to be executed and dumped in the river. The more I thought about it the more confused I was about that. Ranger must have known what I was going to ask.

"Alberto had talked to you. He had been brought to jail by an enemy of Conzitto. You could recognize him, you knew his name and where he lived. And you had been asking after the Rizzos. My guess is that you're right. He was one of the shooters of Sandra and Ronald. He was too great a risk to be allowed to live, just in case we got our hands on him.

"I know you're tired, Babe, but let's get you up and walking a little bit. It'll help your recovery to get your body in motion. Plus the exercise will help you sleep. I have a boot for you to wear on your foot. Focus on standing up straight and walking as normally as possible." He retrieved what looked like a clown shoe from by the front door and put it on the foot with my broken toe. On my other foot he put on my sneaker so I wouldn't have to hobble. The pain meds were still working in full force, so other than some throbbing I felt ok. I wanted to do this too. I wanted to go with him when he rescued Paige. Not if, I told myself, but when.

After my foot was booted we left his apartment. "Where to?" I asked him. I didn't feel much like going outside. Plus I was still in his sweats and tee. He had joked that his men would never let him live it down if they saw me in his clothes, so I guessed we weren't heading to the control room at all. Too bad. I wouldn't have minded seeing the merry men.

"I thought we'd go down to the fifth floor. You could walk on the treadmill for a few minutes, then we could check in on the control room. I want to see what has turned up. I wouldn't mind your help with some of this searching as well, if you're up for it. You mentioned you had already looked up DMNC, Inc.'s real estate holdings. I have some men narrowing it down, but they could use your eyes and knowledge."

I raised my eyebrows. We got into the elevator and Ranger pressed the button for five. Once again I was reminded of the differences between Ranger and Morelli. Ranger respected what I did and what I could bring to the situation. Even though I wasn't the best bounty hunter I had my strengths. Morelli just saw that I wasn't good at it and pushed at it to make me want to quit.

"I thought you didn't want your men to see me wearing your clothes? That you'd never hear the end of it? Those were your exact words. And what do you think I can bring to this investigation that your men can't?"

The doors opened and we walked slowly toward the gym at the end of the hallway.

"The other night, Babe, you had shown up in an emotionally fragile state. Having you then parade around after a shower in my clothes would have seemed like I might have taken advantage of you. It's none of their business if I'm up here sleeping with you or not, but it seemed inappropriate to have you in front of them like that. I need them to follow my orders and respect me without question. I don't want them even thinking about what I may have appeared to have done in that situation, even if it's none of their business. My men know what happened to you today. Tank and Lester investigated, Bobby helped patch you up, and I sent Hal and Cal with the clothes you were wearing, plus the notes, to Morelli. Today is different. So if you're comfortable, I'd like to have you walk for a while and then we'll go to the control room and work."

We walked into the gym and up to the treadmills. Ranger helped me onto one, putting the emergency stop onto my free wrist and pushing buttons to get the machine started at a flat slow walk. Then he got onto the machine next to mine and put his angle a bit higher, and his speed much faster. I was about to prod him to answer the second question when he did it himself.

"As for what you can bring to this investigation, you think like a woman. And while you don't admit it, you understand parenting better than anyone in the control room, myself included. None of us are parents. I have a child, but I don't raise her; I don't live with her. I don't know what the day to day lives of children involves. You grew up in an area where family is very important, where Paige would have been raised with the same values. There are always kids around the Burg, and you hang around your nieces. Even without being a parent yourself you know quite a bit about the subject. You knew Conzitto was going to need a nanny, you deduced the motivations for having a party so quickly. These are things none of my men would have thought of."

My face flushed at his words. I didn't consider myself terribly good with kids. Give me a hamster instead of a kid any day. But everything he said was true.

We used the treadmills in silence for fifteen minutes. Me slowly, doing just half a mile, my ribs and toe throbbing with each heartbeat. Ranger did three miles and had still barely worked up a sweat. He helped me step down from the treadmill and we went to the control room.

The mood changed as soon as Ranger and I walked in. The men had been alert before, but they practically snapped to attention in their seats and silence fell across the room.

"Report," Ranger barked.

"We have narrowed the list of properties down to 15 within ten miles north of the quarry on both sides of the river. They are different types; condos, single family homes, tract housing. The address to which Ella is supposed to report to for her interview in the morning is one of these homes. It's a condo in Lambertville."

"I want men in place first thing in the morning in the guise of work people in and around that building. Show them Paige's picture, make sure they know Conzitto and Bruno, but they are NOT to engage with any of their men. Surveillance only." Ranger gave orders like a military commander. Which I guess he had been at one time.

My gut was saying, though, that Paige wouldn't be there. I went to another computer, my computer when I work at Rangeman, and carefully sat down. I did a search for the building address. It was slow to type. I wasn't the world's fastest typist, but I was used to using two hands and all ten fingers to do it. Now I was limited to one hand. I quickly ran down the list of owners and the size of the units, but I wasn't really interested in who owned it or what it was used for. I was wondering what amenities it had and how it presented itself. A quick search showed two units in the building for sale. Both were well kept but dated. The building didn't have a pool, no fitness room, no playroom, no concierge. Both units were one bedroom units. It was kind of like my building. My building had a couple of kids, babies really, but mostly it was people who liked the quiet and secluded feeling of living in a small building.

I looked at a map now for the area around the building. There wasn't a park or a school within a half mile. This wasn't a place to take a child who was grieving and lonely.

I glanced up to see Ranger watching me from his position near his men. When they saw him looking at me they stopped talking and waited. "What did you find?" Ranger asked.

"I don't think she's going to be at the condo. When you hire someone to watch after your kids you narrow down your applicant pool before you let your kids meet them. That way you only present people you are satisfied with to your kids. This building is full of one bedroom units. No one owns two units, so there's no worry about any of them having been combined. There's no playroom or pool or anything for kids to do. There's no park nearby. Paige won't be there. She'd be impossible to control and keep quiet."

Ranger nodded with a small grin on his face. His men took a few seconds to absorb that information before they looked back at their list with renewed interest. Lester caught my eye and flashed me a big smile. "Way to go, Bombshell," he mouthed.

"Give the rest of the options to Stephanie, let her look them over. Anything else you can think of right away, Babe?"

"Can we get a copy of his recent purchases? I'm wondering something."

"It'll take us a few minutes. We'll get it for you."

I nodded to him and looked at the list of homes I had in front of me. Of the 15 they had found I was able to eliminate four for being boring condos where a kid would be hard pressed to stay quiet. Three were multifamily buildings, so I eliminated those as well for the same reason. That left me with eight possibilities. Two wouldn't have brought Bruno down River Road past the quarry. Down to six. Two were tract houses, one was an isolated house down a long dirt drive, and three were homes outside of neighborhoods, but fairly visible from the road they were on.

Ranger came over with a packet of papers. He sat down in the spare seat in the cubicle as I flipped through them. Conzitto had bought nothing himself, but DMNC, Inc. had made some purchases. There were your usual wholesale office supplies purchases, the electric and water bills, what looked like Casual Friday's lunch, but the first thing that stood out was a 49 purchase at Target. I had no idea what he bought, but on a whim I searched for the code beneath the purchase and a little girl's bicycle with training wheels popped up. Ok then. That was helpful. Training wheels don't work so well on a dirt driveway. So strike the isolated house with the dirt drive.

One bike for 49. No helmet, though. Why would he risk that she would be injured or ticketed for not wearing a helmet? New Jersey has a helmet law for kids, after all. He must have her more secluded than in the tract houses. Also, the kids living near my mother were always ramming one another with their bikes, preparing to grow up and become New Jersey drivers. They didn't aim for little kids, nor did little kids often join in, but there were casualties often enough with a big kid being knocked into a little kid, or a little kid going where they shouldn't go. So no helmet meant that he felt pretty confident that she was not going to be falling off or being knocked off of her bike. He couldn't risk taking her to an emergency room. I was pretty confident that the tract houses were not likely. Plus with so many children around he would have to explain why all of a sudden he had a four year old, and she may become friends with kids whose parents worked outside of the company. I focused my attention to the last three houses.

The next purchases, on a different card, were at Home Depot. No codes this time to put into the computer. There was one for 685 and one for 150, put through within a couple of minutes of one another.

I thought about that for a while. Then I remembered when Mary Lou had bought a swing set for her older son. She said that she had paid a second fee for set up and delivery. I bet that Conzitto had bought a swing set for Paige. Sure enough a search on the Home Depot website found a swing set for 685. But which of the three houses did it go to? All had big enough backyards for one, and they all had paved drives for her bicycle.

I leaned back, then jumped forward again when the pain reminded me of the broken bones in my chest. I felt Ranger's hands reach out and gently knead my shoulders. With my good hand I turned around to face him.

"How goes it, Babe?"

"I've gotten the list of houses down to three. But now I'm not certain where to go from here."

His eyebrows shot up. "Three? Down from 15 in 20 minutes? Babe. It would have taken a team of two men two days to eliminate 12 choices on the list going door to door."

Now it was my turn to be surprised. I hadn't expected to have had such success compared to Ranger's men. So I explained it to him. "The condos and multifamily houses were out because of the noise factor. Plus he probably wants to keep her hidden and not have to explain to a bunch of people how he suddenly has a child. Two meant Bruno wouldn't have gone past the quarry. Conzitto bought Paige a bicycle without a helmet. She's not going to be around any other neighborhood kids, and her driveway is going to be paved. That eliminated the two tract houses and the isolated house. Now it's down to the three houses with paved driveways and backyards big enough for a swing set."

"A swing set?"

"Yeah. There are two charges from Home Depot on here, one right after the other. I remember where Mary Lou bought her set for her older son. She complained about the fee to deliver it and set it up. But once she saw what work had to be done she wasn't as upset. Those guys were there for about three hours setting up the swing set." I chuckled at the memory. "Actually, that was nothing compared to what her husband and some of his friends did for a week before the swing set came. They were out back every night with shovels and beer getting her backyard level so the thing wouldn't be sideways..." My voice trailed off. I turned back around to the computer and pulled up a topographical map of the three properties. One was just far too hilly. The backyard would practically need to be blasted to get a swing set back there, and the driveway could double as a ski jump. The other two were a little more difficult. One had a slightly bumpy backyard but a flat front yard and a long flat paved driveway. The other had a much shorter driveway, but was flat throughout the property.

I looked back at the purchases. A credit card charge to a small equipment company had come through the same day as the Home Depot purchases. A quick search online showed that that company rented out bobcats. So they had to level the backyard after all. And of course Conzitto wouldn't use shovels, he'd just move in the big machinery.

I turned carefully again and looked at Ranger. "The house with the long driveway. I'm almost positive she's there."

He flashed me his full smile. "And you wondered what you could contribute to this investigation, Babe." He helped me to my feet. We started walking past the rest of the men in the control room. As he passed each one Ranger put his fingers to the man's shoulder and he would rise and follow us. We headed as a convoy to the conference room. The chairs here were far more comfortable and I was able to sink into one without discomfort.

When everyone had sat down Ranger started. "Stephanie believes she has found the house where Paige is being kept." Six pairs of eyes turned to me, mouths open. I guess Ranger hadn't been exaggerating when he said that it would have taken them two days. They turned back to him when he started to speak. "There's a swing set going to be delivered soon to the house. I want Lester and Bobby to find out what type it is and read the manual so you can learn to set it up. Stephanie will get the brand for you. Woody, how long would it take you to hack into DMNC, Inc.'s calendar and find out when the swing set is going to be delivered?"

Woody thought for a moment. "They have a pretty complicated system, Boss. I haven't been able to get in whenever we've tried in the past. Give me 24 hours and I might be able to get in."

Ranger started to nod when I interrupted. "I can have that for you by 9 tomorrow morning." This time seven pairs of eyes stared at me as Ranger joined his men. "I'll just call Home Depot and tell them I forgot to write down what time they were coming. No problem. It'll have the added bonus of confirming the address for us."

Ranger grinned. "Ok then. Lester, Bobby, you have until 9 tomorrow to make yourselves experts on the swing set. I want you to borrow the truck and set it up yourselves. Surveillance only. Do not interact with Conzitto any more than you absolutely need to. Make the normal small talk about who the swing set is being put in for, but otherwise don't push for information. Get a layout of the house, get the land, see how many people are coming and going. Report back here as soon as you're through. We'll get uniforms for you tonight and I'll have Ella take care of the details.

"Anything else?"

I started to raise my hand, but stopped when it hurt. I had their attention as soon as I gasped, though.

"Try not to move too much through the torso yet, Steph," reminded Bobby. "It'll be a few weeks before your ribs feel 100 again." Great.

"I'll remember. Thanks, Bobby. What I wanted to say, though, was that I still haven't found Elizabeth." I fished out her picture from the packet of papers that had been brought down from Ranger's apartment. I passed it around. "Her two best friends were killed in their homes, and her aunt and uncle were murdered at DMNC, Inc.'s warehouse. I doubt she's alive, but if she is she's probably at one of Conzitto's properties. I think if I was going to kill someone and make them disappear, then burying them in the backyard when it's known I have a bobcat rented and earth moved around for a swing set coming in would be a convenient time to do it. No one would question random mounds of dirt laying around."

No one had anything to say at that somber statement.

Ranger looked around the room. "Men, you have your assignments. Dismissed."

We made our way back to Ranger's apartment. The pain medication was wearing off and it was getting hard to breathe again. I just wanted to climb into his bed and go to sleep. He had the best bed in the universe, even if he wasn't in it. I was tired, I was stressed, and I hurt. I couldn't shut down my mind, though. I felt so much better that we had narrowed in on Paige, but I was still no closer to finding out any information about Elizabeth. The chances that she was still alive were slim to none, but I held out a little bit of hope.

When we got back inside I made a beeline directly for the bed. Ranger helped me pull off my boot and my shoe, and in a completely platonic way he helped me get the sweatpants off as well. It hurt far too much to bend over for me to do it myself. As soon as I was in clothes comfortable enough to sleep in – not too many and not too few – Ranger helped me lay back. Heaven. I still hurt quite a lot, but not having to hold myself upright made a huge difference.

"How's the pain, Babe? Do you need something for it?"

"Right now I don't want to get up and I don't want to bother Bobby again tonight. So I guess I'm ok."

"It's no bother, Babe. It's his job. But if you're ok then that's fine. I have Tylenol here in the apartment if you just want to take some of that."

I nodded. My eyes were getting heavy. I heard Ranger go into his bathroom and open a cabinet, then heard water running for a few seconds. He came back and helped me sit up enough to swallow the pills. That took the last of my strength. I laid back and just stared at the ceiling, looking at my eyelids falling.

_Ranger's POV_

I sat on the edge of the bed and watched as Babe fell asleep. Passed out was more like it. She was exhausted. She'd been working on this case alone for three full days, going up against Conzitto's full organization solo, even if she didn't realize it. He'd been watching her, playing with her. And then he sent Bruno to hurt her. This had to end. These were bad people. I'd heard through the grapevine that Stephanie often told people that she thought I only killed bad people. It's true, I'd killed before. Abruzzi hurt her, and I killed him. Ramos hurt her, and I stunned him and sent him to jail. I couldn't kill him and make it look clean. I'd been trying to get Conzitto for 10 years. Before it was business. He was bad for it. He created a lot of problems for me. But now it was personal. He had hurt Stephanie. I was tempted to go to the house she had chosen right now and blow his brains away. I knew that wouldn't work, though. I knew he had security and he was on constant alert. Especially now, since he was in the middle of this sick game with her. I pulled my mind away from thoughts of revenge and thought about how to protect Stephanie. I had told her I wouldn't leave her behind. But she was wounded. She wouldn't be able to move quickly. Maybe by some luck she would see my reasoning and stay at Rangeman, but I needed a plan in place for when she inevitably decided that she was going to be right in the thick of things, like always.

Tomorrow we were going to have reconnaissance missions happening in two locations. We were going to get the house and the condo scanned. I had six men protecting the Plum family, plus a man on Lula. Probably on her in more ways than one, I thought with a sigh. There would be four at the condo, two at the house. That left me with not many people here at headquarters. Maybe it would be better to take Stephanie and just have her sit in the truck and do surveillance with me.

Conzitto was starting to have people show up for the nanny position at eight. Ella's appointment was at 10. I wanted men in place by 7:15 to avoid suspicion. I went into my office and sent out assignments to the men and quickly received acknowledgments. I still didn't know what time the swing set was going to be delivered. Hopefully not first thing, but better safe than sorry. I mapped out the most logical route for the truck to take from Home Depot to the house and sent the information to Lester and Bobby with instructions to be standing by as early as seven. I sent Tank a message to continue whatever it was he was doing, and then sent messages to the six men guarding the Plum family to keep it up and stay alert. I sent Ella a message with her information and thanked her ahead of time for doing this. She was my housekeeper, that's why I hired her, but she'd come in handy once or twice before.

I turned off the computer, got out of my combats and crawled into bed next to Stephanie. The alarm was set for five. I wanted to reach over and hold her, but I knew I would hurt her if I tried. I was about to drift off when I felt her body change. She stiffened and started sweating. She was having a nightmare. I touched her good hand and tried to wake her up. "Babe?" She didn't wake, but at the sound of my voice she seemed to calm. "Ranger?" she mumbled in her sleep. "I'm here, Babe. You're safe." I fell asleep holding her hand.

I woke up the next morning to the alarm going off. I quickly silenced it and looked over to see if it had woken Stephanie up. She was still asleep, laying in the same position as she had fallen asleep in. She was still holding my hand. I smiled at that. I pulled my hand away and watched her for a moment. When it didn't look like she was about to slip into a nightmare I quickly got up and showered and dressed. When I came back she was still asleep peacefully. I went into my office off of my bedroom and checked my messages. Bobby and Lester had their uniforms, they had read the manual front to back and back to front, and they had discussed a tactic for getting the truck away from the actual delivery men. I read over their plan, approved it and sent the message back. I checked reports from the men stationed on the Plum family. All had been quiet. Well, normal, anyway. Tank had checked in and reported that nothing had been quiet, but all was good. I smiled at that.

I checked my reports from my other bases of operation, and just as Ella was bringing the breakfast tray in at seven Stephanie stirred. I went into the bedroom and looked down at her.

"Sleep well? Any nightmares?"

"There was one, but it was cut short. I feel a million times better today." She tried to sit up and I watched her wince. I leaned in to help her. "I can do it," she said. And with quite a bit of effort she pushed herself up to sitting. No mean feat with three broken ribs and one arm in a sling.

"Well," she said. "Maybe not a million times better. But better." I could see that the change in position hurt her, but she didn't mention anything, and I didn't bring it up. My respect for her continued to climb.

"We have a busy day today, Babe. I was going to ask you to consider staying here as a favor, but I realized that you would be far more helpful if you come with me. Most of my men will be watching Conzitto in various ways, so there won't be too many people here. I could use your eyes and insights on the road. Ella has brought up breakfast and she's gone to change and get ready for her interview at 10. I've already got men arriving at the condo so we should start getting reports back shortly. As soon as Home Depot opens you'll find out the time of the delivery and confirm the address. I want to be watching the condo when you make that phone call, though. I have a feeling Conzitto will be there for a while."

She watched me rattle off the day's events with an odd look on her face. She wasn't as used to working with me in a group situation. This was probably slightly unnerving for her. But true to form she stood her ground and went with it.

I went into my closet and pulled out some spare clothes she had left. All Rangeman black. I helped her out of the swathe and sling, put a new bandage on her bullet wound, and with her permission I eased the tee shirt off of her. Her bruises looked far worse today. There seemed to be many many more than yesterday. The tape was holding for now.

"Turn around so I can see your back." Bobby and I had looked it over yesterday, but I wanted to see what it looked like now. She had crossed her arms in front of her chest. Some of the tape was starting to peel off of her ribs, and her back looked like someone had been using it for target practice. The skin above her kidneys was nearly black and there were dozens of smaller bruises. I don't know how she had slept on it.

I realized while looking at her that there was no way she was going to be able to get into her bra by herself. Or get the rest of her clothes on and off, for that matter. Another time this would have filled me with a nearly incapacitating amount of desire, but today it fueled the fire against Conzitto. I gently slid her arms through her bra straps and hooked it on its loosest setting. I put a Rangeman tee on her, then got her arm back in its sling and put the swathe on snugly. She gasped and hissed several times during all of this, but said nothing else. She stepped into some jeans and I helped her pull them up, then I got her boots for her. When she saw the boot for her toe she shook her head.

"No way am I going out on a job with that clown shoe. If I need to run I won't be able to do it in that.

"That's sort of the whole point of it, Babe. I don't think you can run."

"Just in case. Humor me. We'll just pad my toe and I'll just wear my regular boots, thanks."

I shrugged and did the best I could before lacing them up. I helped her to her feet.

"Babe, I want to see you eat a good breakfast today. I don't know when later we'll have time to eat, and you've barely eaten in days." I took her good hand and led her out to the kitchen. Probably a little faster than she wanted to move, but I wanted to push her so she knew what she could do. She didn't protest the speed at which we moved.

"I'm just not hungry, Ranger. I don't want to eat anything. Nothing sounds or tastes good."

I turned and looked down at her, and without warning I wrapped my arms low around her waist and lifted her. I held her for a few seconds and then put her back down.

"Babe, you're losing weight. I can see it in your face and I can feel it when I lift you. Ella is a fantastic cook. Something here will look good. Find it and eat it."

Her eyes flared at me. She didn't like being told what to do. But she carefully sat down, picked up a bowl of fruit and started eating. I could see it was physically uncomfortable for her to do, but she ate the entire bowl. Except for one piece. That piece she took over to Rex, and staring at me defiantly the whole time, fed to him rather than eat it herself. Wise ass. I grinned and shook my head. I grabbed the bagels off of the tray and wrapped them up to take them with us. I snatched my SEALS hat and a hat that said Rangeman on it for her, a couple of windbreakers, a med kit, her shoulder bag, and it was time to go.


	12. Chapter 12

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure. There is some violence in this story, but no smut, and a little bit of language._

_This is my first story. I would love feedback! Thank you._

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 12**

_Stephanie's POV_

This had been a strange morning. I'd started a nightmare last night, but it stopped suddenly just as it was getting to the worst part. After that my dreams were of finding Paige and going out to dinner and seeing Rex. I woke up feeling much better, but I still couldn't believe how much I hurt. My whole body hurt today. I didn't want to mention it and make a scene, though. I was grateful beyond words for Ranger's help getting me out of the door, and for his lack of comments, but I knew this was going to gno et old quickly. I didn't protest when Ranger turned on the seat heaters in the Cayenne, though. The warmth seeped through my aching muscles.

His men had been watching the condo for an hour before we got there. At 8:30 I started calling Home Depot. At 8:45 I got through to a person.

"Morning! I was hoping you could help me. I'm such a dork sometimes. We're having a swing set delivered to Goat Hill Road soon and I completely forgot to write down on my calendar when you guys are coming. Do you think you could look that up for me?"

"That's at 3784 Goat Hill Road?" the sales person said.

"That's the one!" I crossed my fingers. They didn't have two going soon, did they? Better find out. I conversationally asked, "You don't get too many going to Goat Hill Road, do you?"

"Actually, as far as I know you're the first, you know?" She laughed. I chuckled with her. Whew. "It looks like we have you down to arrive between 11-2 today."

"Oh great! That will work out perfectly. Do you guys need directions? Where will the truck be coming from?"

"It'll be coming from the store in Ewing. I'm pretty sure we're good. Up River Road, a right onto Valley, and a left onto Goat Hill, correct?"

"That's it! Thank you. We'll see you then!" I clumsily hung up and closed the phone.

I relayed what I had learned to Ranger. "They're scheduled to be there between 11 and 2 today, and the truck will be coming from Ewing, going right up River Road."

"Babe."

I gave him a weary smile. I leaned back into the heated seat and tried to relax while he passed the information to Lester and Bobby. A thought suddenly occurred to me and I sat up straight again.

"What if Elizabeth has been killed and she's been sitting in a morgue? Do you have any way to check on that?"

Ranger shook his head. "That'd be one for Morelli. I can't easily access that information. Do you want to ask him?"

Now it was my turn to shake my head. "Not really. I mean yes, but not until Paige is safe." I thought about Paige for a while now. "What will we do with her when we find her? She hasn't got a mother or her aunt and uncle. Where will she go?"

"I had Silvio run a more detailed search on Elizabeth this morning. She has a great aunt and some cousins in Baltimore. Paige would go to them first, maybe. She may end up in a home, though."

I shuddered at the thought of the little blond girl who I had seen bouncing around growing up in the foster care system. I hoped that if that's what happened to her that she would find a good home.

At 9:30 my phone rang. It was my mother. "Are you and Joseph coming to dinner tonight, dear? It's Friday, pot roast!" I could hear the bottled cheer in her voice. She was trying to stay happy. It was failing miserably.

"I need to work today, Mom, and I don't know how long it'll take. Don't count on us. How's everything going with you guys?"

"Oh, everything here is fine. Your grandmother got her hair done yesterday. It's now a stunning apricot color again. She has matching lipstick, too. It makes her look like a Halloween mask." She paused. I could tell she really wanted to ask about Sandra and Ronald. And I was curious as to what she knew. "I haven't heard from my friends yet, dear. Do you know anything about that?"

"Actually, Mom, that's what I'm working on today. That's why I may be late." I successfully failed to answer her question. I did a mental sign of the cross. "I'll try to make dinner, but don't count on me." I hung up the phone.

"Has she heard anything?"

"No, she hasn't. Which is odd. Normally the Burg would be buzzing with something like this. A whole household disappearing. So why aren't they?"

Ranger watched me out of the corner of his eye. "In the past they've sometimes moved some of their men into the victims' homes. They just move around, turn on lights, make the place look lived in. They are never spotted, or if they are they're put down as delivery men or a long lost cousin. It delays discovery of the crime and gives people time to make a getaway, or establish an alibi, or just waits for evidence to disappear. I suspect there are people living in the Rizzo house with the blinds drawn, simply going about their business, driving their cars occasionally."

It took me a moment to absorb that information. It was just too creepy. But it made sense. Sandra and Ronald were not the most outgoing people in their area. It probably wasn't uncommon for them not to directly interact with their neighbors more than once a month or so. It may be a while before they're missed by more than one person.

I had to know if Ranger had heard anything more about them, though. "Have their bodies been found?" He shook his head.

"I suspect they're weighted in the Delaware by now."

My vision went spider webby and I moved to put my head between my knees but my broken ribs stopped me. The fruit I had eaten swam in my stomach, and before I could stop it I was leaning out of the door seeing it all for a second time. When I was done I was crying in pain, clawing at my chest. I could barely breathe from the pain in my ribs. Ranger watched me half a heartbeat with a look of concern, then grabbed the med kit. He flipped it open and pulled out a syringe. He checked the label and the dosage and then pulled aside the windbreaker on my uninjured side. He lifted my sleeve and with a practiced motion he gave me the injection. A few seconds later and the pain in my chest receded.

"A low dose of morphine, Babe. I need you conscious. Feeling better?" I nodded. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you that about Sandra and Ronald."

"It's ok," I said. "I should have realized what was going on. This is kind of new to me. I mean, I've been around bodies and death and destruction for a long time now. Heavy on the death and destruction. But I usually just see the after. I've never been involved with it like this. From live people to people I know are dead but who aren't even officially missing yet, to waiting for the discovery." I thought of something. "Will this tie in to Conzitto in a legal way?"

Ranger shook his head. "Unless you saw him in the room watching the murders happen, then no. He had no knowledge, if it comes down to making a statement. Everybody knows that he was calling the shots, but none of his men will snitch on him, so there's no evidence to back it up. That's why he's so hard to capture. There's never anything solid linking him to crime. He's like Capone. They never got Capone on racketeering charges. They got him for skipping out on his taxes. So we need to find Conzitto making a mistake somewhere. Anywhere. And he hasn't."

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Ranger received reports from his men in the building and around the house. All was normal. Soon Ella would go in for her appointment as nanny. Suddenly I had an idea.

"You said that Conzitto can't trust too many people with the knowledge about Paige right now, right?" Ranger nodded. "And he's not legally her father, nor can he become her father legally without stepping in some smelly legal shit." Ranger nodded again. "We should use that against him! My family is safe, he knows you've been working with me. If I report Paige as missing, then when she is found he'll be charged with kidnapping, yes? He'll know it was me, but everyone around me is protected, so there's nothing he can do!"

Ranger gave me the full 200 watt smile. "Babe. Call it in. Be anonymous, though. No sense giving your name if you can avoid it."

I excitedly got out my phone and dialed 911. I quickly lied about being a neighbor and not having seen Sandra, Ronald, or Paige for a few days and I was concerned. Then I hung up. I knew the police wouldn't get much. Probably two people knew that my mother was such good friends with the Rizzos, and it would take a couple of days to find those two people. But it was now on record that someone was concerned about their well being. If Conzitto was picked up he would either have to go down for kidnapping, or acknowledge paternity and face the question about where her mother is. Which may be tricky, but it would buy us time with Paige away from him at the very least.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, each in our own thoughts. Ranger plucked at my sleeve and pointed toward the front door of the condo. Ella was walking in, a few minutes early for her 10 o'clock appointment.

"Is she wearing a wire?" I asked Ranger. He shook his head.

"There would be no reason for them to suspect her in any way, but it's not worth the risk. She has a great memory. We just want to find out what they know and what's going on. She's got a panic button under her jacket and a GPS pen in her purse. That's all."

We waited, me so tightly coiled that I wanted to sit and twitch, Ranger looking like he was just out watching for birds. Precisely at 10:32 Ella was coming back out of the front door, heading back to her car. No Rangeman employees or vehicles moved toward her. I was dying to know what she had seen, but she let nothing away, and a few minutes later her sedan passed us. As soon as she pulled around the corner and out of sight she called Ranger. He listened intently, thanked her, then sat back.

My eyebrows were going to be stuck somewhere on top of my scalp soon if Ranger didn't speak up and answer my unasked questions.

"Sorry, Babe. Thinking. Ella said that there were two people in the condo. No sign of Paige, just like you said. She said there was a lady who seemed far too perky for normal who was doing most of the interviewing, and then Bruno was standing in the corner." The corners of his mouth turned up. "Apparently Bruno looks a little worse for wear. He's limping slightly and his nose is broken. He looks like a 'gimpy raccoon', to use Ella's words. The perky lady would look at Bruno as is for instructions every few minutes and Bruno would nod or shake his head. He never said anything. After the half hour Bruno showed her to the door and they said they would be in touch, they might like her to meet the child."

"Did they say Paige's name specifically?"

"No, they didn't. They said they needed a nanny for a four year old named Hailey. It's possible it's the wrong child, but more likely they're changing her name, hoping to avoid any recognition. They'll call Ella at the end of the day to let her know if, and if so when and where, she can meet 'Hailey'".

This made sense to me. "The perky person is the receptionist at DMNC, Inc. She was the one who kept me waiting when someone was putting the bomb on. I had the pleasure of meeting her hung over. She was painfully perky."

"She must be in Conzitto's inner circle, then."

"She's not listed as an employee of the company, though. The only two employees listed are Conzitto and Bruno. The rest of the page was blank when I looked it up." I thought for a moment. "I think I know how we can find her out." Ranger looked at me. "She must have been the one doing the shopping for Paige. She probably does most of the shopping for the company, but if she's trusted with this knowledge then she was probably the one out buying the pink bike and setting up the swing set delivery. If we can see the receipts we can see her signature. Once we have a signature we can do the DMV thing and see what shows up."

"Babe." Ranger made a phone call and started to make it happen. I didn't know what needed to go on to find out that information, but apparently Ranger's men did.

We sat for two more hours outside of the condo before we heard from Lester and Bobby that they had the truck and were heading to the house on Goat Hill Road with the swing set. I didn't want to know how they had done it all. Plausible deniability, right?

Ranger ate one of the bagels we had brought with us and had some water. I had some water and ignored his glares. At 1 Ms. Perky and Bruno came out of the condo building and headed toward an SUV. I shuddered when I saw Bruno and was very thankful I hadn't eaten anything more after I'd been sick. As it was my stomach sloshed around uncomfortably. They pulled away, and Ranger pulled into traffic a few cars behind them. Bruno was a professional, so we didn't try to trail them alone. Ranger left two men at the condo and the rest of us took turns following the SUV. But we needed have wondered much. They simply drove back to the warehouse. Again, I shuddered. I closed my eyes and didn't open them until Ranger had turned around and I could heard that we were on a trafficked road again.

After a quick stop at Rangeman headquarters to use the restroom and stock up on food and water for Ranger we headed back out. We got on Route 29 and headed north. I gathered we were going to do a drive by of the house. Lester and Bobby were there now setting up the swing set. I hoped they were good at it! I thought about Paige in the house. We knew Bruno and Ms. Perky weren't with her. No one knew where Conzitto was, and I hoped he wasn't home alone with her.

We drove by the house without slowing at all, just to get a look at it. I could see the Home Depot truck in the driveway. I didn't see Paige at all, nor any sign of her. The bike wasn't outside, no dolls on the walk, nothing. There was a large fence around the backyard.

Just as the house was going out of my sight I looked again and I saw her! She had come out onto the porch to sit on the chair with a coloring book and crayons. I grabbed Rangers arm. "I saw her! Ranger, I saw her, she's ok! They cut her hair, but she's ok!" I was trembling with excitement. "We have to turn around and go get her."

Ranger shook his head. "We have even less legal standing than Conzitto does to take her. We're not inside Trenton city limits here. This would come under the Hunterdon County sheriff department's jurisdiction. And I doubt they would take kindly to two people going in and stealing a little girl. Even if she shouldn't be there in the first place. We've seen her, she's healthy and seems happy. In an hour or two, provided Lester and Bobby did their homework, she'll even have a brand new swing set to play with. We can't do anything rash. Lester and Bobby are gathering information about the house, we've seen her. Now we can start on a plan."

While he had been saying this Ranger had been driving north on toward Lambertville. It was a tiny city, little more than a bedroom community for New Hope, Pennsylvania across the river. We found a comfortable location in a little park next to the river. "Time to get out for a bit, Babe. Let's walk."

"Walk to where?" I hadn't done anything, but I was tired. I could have laid down in the Cayenne and gone to sleep.

"You want to keep moving. Let's walk. We both have our cells. Lester and Bobby will check in when they're done. I've got two other teams heading toward the house to keep an eye on it. We're just down the road. We can walk a bit and relax while we wait for information."

It was a pleasant day, so we rambled through the park. I hurt, but Ranger was right. Once I got moving I felt much better. I let him decide where to walk and I just concentrated on keeping moving. One foot in front of another.

While we were walking Lester called to check in. I could hear some of the conversation. He was quite obviously very proud that he and Bobby had put the swing set together. Deep down they were just boys, wanting to build something with legos. Ranger grinned to me. I could tell he was thinking the same thing. After that, though, they launched right into business. Lester and Bobby had a diagram of the windows and doors and a layout that they could tell about the house. Apparently they had each asked separately to go in and use the restroom and Lester had "forgotten" the way. There was a young woman there now, probably about 22 years old. She had been expecting them and had signed for the swing set. Otherwise they hadn't seen anyone. She had not made any phone calls that they had heard, nor received any messages.

Ranger acknowledged this and hung up the phone. I was chafing at the inaction. I wanted to go and rescue Paige, legalities be damned. But we needed to think a bit more.

"Let's drive by again and see if we see anything before we call it a night, Babe. Then we can get back to Rangeman headquarters and see about identifying Ms. Perky."

We got back into the car and drove south out of Lambertville and onto Goat Hill Road. As we drove by I saw the top of the chains on the swing moving over the top of the fence. Paige was on her new swing set. I hoped she was enjoying it. There was a car in the driveway that hadn't been there when the truck was there, plus an SUV. I guessed Conzitto and Bruno were home. I shuddered again at the thought of being so close to Bruno.

"Ranger?"

"Yes, Babe?"

"What would happened if someone called in a tip that they had seen Paige at that house? Would the police go in and investigate?"

"They'd probably send someone in to look. Conzitto would probably deny that she was there. Remember, he has security everywhere. He would know as soon as a police cruiser was within a half mile of the house. He'd have time to put her in a safe room with a gag or mask or something. Or give her a shot of something to put her to sleep. They wouldn't find her on a search they could do on a tip. They'd need more evidence to get a more detailed search warrant."

"Is there some way that we could help with that, since we know she's there? Somehow get Trenton PD to let us come in?"

"On what grounds? He's not FTA. None of his men are FTA as of this afternoon. There's no paperwork showing that you were hired on behalf of the family."

"This is so frustrating!! We know where she is!"

"We need a plan, Babe. Let's go home and see what we can shake out."

We rode the rest of the way in silence. I reclined the Cayenne's seat a couple of clicks and was starting to fall into a light sleep when we pulled into the Rangeman garage. We trekked up to the fifth floor conference room and sat down. Lester, Bobby, Hal, Cal, Ella, and others not on surveillance duty joined us.

"First," Ranger said, calling someone on the conference room's speaker phone, "let's get security checks." Tank's voice came on the line. All was clear with them, he had spotted no threat to Lula. I was relieved. The lead man watching my family said the same.

"Ok, what did we learn today?" Ranger was all business. "Lester?"

"The house seems pretty empty. We didn't see the girl, thought we spoke to the babysitter. She's just a college kid earning some extra cash. I don't think she's in with Conzitto or anything. She knows her job is temporary until the nanny position is filled. We didn't see any men in the yard, but there were cameras posted at 30 foot intervals throughout the trees. The backyard is entirely fenced and six feet high. No barbed wire, no crushed glass. We didn't see any sign of recent burial, even among the freshly moved dirt. The inside of the house was pretty typical. It didn't look remarkably lived in, other than the mess the kid was making. There was evidence of her everywhere. No computers, no monitoring equipment, none of that from what we saw."

"Ok then," Ranger said. "They've got eyes on them from elsewhere. That means phone calls to get information around, which means there will be a lag of a few seconds waiting for the connection. We may need to use that. Ella," he said, turning to her. "What did you see in the condo?"

"The condo itself was sparsely furnished, set up like a business unit. I don't think it's lived in, just used when they need it. There was a desk, computer, file cabinet, and a few chairs in the living room. The bedroom I didn't see. The kitchen was an efficiency, and from what I saw when I was offered a bottle of water they didn't keep much beyond what we have in the kitchen here in there. Some sandwiches enough for the day, a few snacks, some water. The interview was all business, no casual chatter. They were looking for a full time live-in nanny position. They presented him as a man who had just lost his ex-wife and suddenly had custody of a four year old he didn't know, and he would need a nanny until he married, if not beyond. The lady said that he was not yet engaged, but he had hopes, so it would not be a short assignment. They said he was a wealthy businessman, so security would be in place and there would be random checks on any employees of his. That was all they said before they asked the usual questions about experience with kids and as a nanny. The dossier was perfect, they never seemed suspicious."

When Ella was done we moved to Hal. He'd been given the job of finding out Ms. Perky. "Her name is Michaela Roberts. She's been with Conzitto as far as we can tell for the past five years. She's not listed as an employee at DMNC, Inc., so we couldn't find out what her jobs have been. Obviously she shops, handles the phone calls, and is in with him enough to be trusted with Paige's secret. Otherwise her DMV record is clear, she's never been arrested, her credit is good, and she lives in a quiet neighborhood down by Roebling Park. Her neighbors know nothing about her, her rent is paid on time. She shops in the local supermarket every day for her dinner foods, is always pleasant and energetic with the staff there, and she generally cooks for one. Her building is small, with cameras in the lobby and parking lot, but no additional security that we could see. We don't know about her apartment itself."

So much for Ms. Perky. That had the house, the condo, and some of the main characters explained. No one apparently needed Conzitto explained. Ranger took the lead now.

"Stephanie and I called in a missing person's report on Paige. It won't do much, we didn't go into the police station to do an indepth one, just an anonymous phone call with concern. So there is a legal trail now when she is found. Stephanie saw Paige at the house today when she drove by. Her hair has been cut, but otherwise she seemed happy and normal. We saw her on one pass sitting on the front porch coloring, and on the second time past the house we saw the chains for the swings moving above the fence, so we knew she was out back. The second time we went by Conzitto and Bruno were back for the evening. We have no legal standing to go in and take Paige, though I think done properly very few questions would be asked.

"We need to get Paige away from Conzitto, and ideally we get Conzitto locked up for kidnapping while we're at it. Bruno behind bars for assault would be good too. Options?"

The room quieted down. I went to raise my hand, thought better of it, and just spoke up. "How does he move around? I saw his SUV today. But I don't mean like that. Does he have a private plane, refuse to fly, go commercial?"

Woody had a stack of papers in front of him. He shuffled through them. "He owns a private plane kept at Trenton Mercer Airport. He uses it only a few times a year."

"What are you thinking, Babe?"

"I'm thinking if we put on pressure, get him spooked a bit, he might move with her. And if we can push him in the right direction maybe we can push him into a corner."

"He's got some business going down pretty soon here, so I don't think he's going to want to skip town. And if we push him out of the house where he is now we don't know where he'd go. He didn't buy two bikes and two swing sets. He's not setting up an emergency house."

"Well, what if we push and wait for him near the house where he is now? We know his cars, the road is rather isolated. If we sit at the next intersections of Goat Hill Road he'll have to go by. Then we can follow him and take him down."

Ranger nodded. His men were nodding too. Lester sent me a huge smile. "Ok, what would make him move? Stephanie, do you have any ideas?"

"Well, if he thought he was about to be found out he would leave the area. I could probably ask Mary Lou to start a rumor that Paige was north of Washington Crossing and had been spotted. That would be vague enough that he wouldn't know for sure, but it's probably enough to make him want to move her away from there. And Mary Lou would be safe because it would spread like a wild fire. It's hard to find the initial spark after a fire. The Burg already was suspicious that something was going on. She told me on Wednesday that she had heard that the Rizzos were missing. Or at least that they hadn't been seen. So it wouldn't take much to get this going. It would get back to Conzitto pretty quickly. A lot of his employees are probably from the Burg."

Ranger gave an imperceptible nod. "Unless there's anything else?" No one had anything to say. "In that case I want men camped on either end of Goat Hill Road from the house. I want cars staggered out there driving around. I want them followed but not alerted. Stephanie, call Mary Lou. Dismissed."

The rest of the men stood up and I pulled out my phone and called Mary Lou. I had barely said hello before she started in.

"Steph, things are weird around here! Something's not right with the Rizzos. There are people in the house, so Sandra and Ronald are probably home, but it just feels off. And I heard about how your grandmother got the casket lid up on another one last night, too. And apparently she went home with George Foreman? Or at least that's what the rumor was. I'm sure it wasn't THE George Foreman."

When she stopped to take a breath I cut in. "Mary Lou, I did some digging and I found out that Paige is up north of Washington Crossing. I don't know where Sandra or Ronald are." I heard her take a hiss of air.

"It's true, something IS going on! Wait till the others hear this. I'll talk to you later, ok?" and with that she hung up before I could answer.

"She's already dialing someone else with the news. I hope your men get in place quickly."

"The government should study the Burg communication network. I'm sure there's nothing as thorough in the entire world." He grinned. I was tired. I wanted this to be over.

"Babe, I'm going to ride out with my men. Do you want to stay here and rest, or do you want to come with me?"

I blinked at him. He was giving me a choice. More than anything I wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for days. But I wanted to be there when Paige was found. I felt like she was my responsibility."

"I'll come with."

"I thought you might. We have a few minutes. Why don't you freshen up, sit back and relax, and call Morelli. See what he's found."

I thought that sounded like a good idea. I went into the restroom and washed my free hand and face, then went back to the comfortable chairs in the conference room to make the phone call. Morelli answered quickly.

"How goes it, Cupcake? Blow up anything today?"

"No, not today. It's been quiet. I mostly just sat. What's going on with Emily and Lizzie?"

"Not too much. No one was seen. Some neighbors mentioned a big guy walking around, but that's all we have. It's not enough. Emily was killed with a shovel hit to the back of her head as she walked in after work. She was carried downstairs and buried. Lizzie's wrists were slit in the bathtub. We've been able to trace their steps in the time they worked together at DMNC, Inc. Turns out they both lived briefly in an apartment in Newark. They were together, though 'roommates' may not be the term best used. 'Harem' might have been better. Apparently there were two or three men who would rotate through while the girls were there. A girl named Elizabeth Orfanelli lived with them too while they were there. The apartment is empty now, but some of the neighbors said that one of the men who was on rotation stopped by this week, took a few things and then left. We don't see how that ties into Emily or Lizzie's murders, though."

I didn't see how it did either, but a tingle of hope shot through me. What if Elizabeth was alive and this man was keeping her somewhere where she couldn't contact her family? Why would Conzitto want her alive, though? Maybe she was the 'hopes' he had for marriage? Would they move on and be a family together?

"Cupcake? You got quiet. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. I miss you."

"I miss you too. I love you. I'm glad I know you're safe with Ranger. I'm so busy here I wouldn't have time to keep an eye on you. How're you holding up?"

"I'm tired, I hurt, and I just want this to be over."

"I know. Hopefully soon. If I know Ranger he's got a plan in place already. Oh, that reminds me. Do you know of a girl named Paige? Apparently she's being kept north of Washington Crossing. The Burg grapevine is buzzing with her name, though I don't know more about her than that. No last name or anything. But you're usually pretty plugged in. Should I be concerned?"

I froze. That was fast! "No, nothing you need to do about it. I'll see what my mom knows."

"Ok. I love you, Cupcake. Take care."

"I love you too, Joe."

I hung up as Ranger walked back into the conference room. I gave him the run down of what Morelli had told me. I told Ranger about my sudden hopes for Elizabeth. But we had no way to look for her. DMNC, Inc. had only a couple of apartments in Newark, but they were too far away and the men were spread too thin here to be spared. We'd have to put that on the back burner for now.

Just then Woody came running into the conference room. "Hal says that Conzitto and Bruno, along with the college kid and Paige just piled into their car. He's up a tree across the road where they can't see him. They turned south on Goat Hill." He went back to the control room and Ranger and I followed. We could see the Rangeman vehicles in motion, heading south, doing a complicated tail so they wouldn't lose him or be spotted. He turned right onto Valley. I grabbed Ranger's hand. "He's coming south to Trenton!"

He pulled my hand along and we went down to the garage and got in his Cayenne. He was on speakerphone with the control room the entire time. We headed north, hoping to pass him on the road. Sure enough, just north of Trenton we saw him. We did a U turn and joined the parade of cars going in and out behind him, keeping an eye on the SUV. As soon as they passed the Welcome to Trenton sign Ranger told me to call Trenton PD with an anonymous tip that we had spotted Paige in an SUV and we gave them the plate. We wove behind them along with the others and were kept abreast of their movements by the control room. Soon it was clear that Conzitto was going to head across the river. Where was Trenton PD?? We followed across and ended up in Pennsylvania. Within ten minutes Conzitto had pulled up in front of a lonely house in the woods. We drove by on the road, then parked. Ranger got out and put on his flak vest. I got out with him and dug around in the back for mine.

"Babe, there's probably going to be some physical work here. You should stay with the car. Woody will be by soon, he can sit with you and make sure you're safe."

"No way, Ranger. I'm coming with you."

"Babe, you can barely walk, you can't run, and your right hand is bandaged so you can't shoot. You can't defend yourself."

"Ranger. I'm coming with you. Are you going to stay here and argue with me or are we going to leave? Help me get this on."

He stared at me for ten seconds, then helped me out of my sling and swathe and into the vest. He set out toward the house, and I followed him, my gun in my left hand feeling awkward. Ranger set a hard pace, but I kept up. Barely. We needed to move quietly and carefully, which helped. Ranger told his men to call in a tip that Paige was at this address, then we started to move in. It appeared that just Conzitto, Bruno, the babysitter, and Paige were here. Lights were flicking on through the house. I knew Ranger's men were in the woods close by, each slinking down a pathway, looking out for security and moving appropriately. We were nearest to the house, and we were almost in dashing distance when a shot rang out and a tree behind us splintered. Ranger pushed me to the side and jumped to the other side.

"Draw their fire, Babe. Let's keep them busy over here. It looks like two shooters. Bruno and Conzitto himself, unless there was someone in the house already."

Ranger and I shot back, though I mostly ended up shooting leaves off of the trees. I'd have to remember to practice with my left hand in the future. We heard a crash, a lot of shouting, and then silence. We went into the house carefully. Hal and Cal were standing over Conzitto, their guns on him. Bruno was on the floor bleeding, though his eyes were open and dull. There was no sign of the babysitter or Paige.

Conzitto looked at me. "We finally meet Ms. Plum. You are tenacious and stubborn. Even after we caused you pain you kept at it. Maybe your family should feel some, do you think?"

Ranger stepped in front of me and glared at him. "Conzitto, your business is with me. Not with Ms. Plum, and certainly not with her family. They are under my protection, and I will take it quite personally should you endanger them."

We heard sirens in the distance. Conzitto looked smug. The arrogant bastard. "There are the police. And here you are, holding me hostage in my own home, having shot my man. None of you have a mark on you."

"Stephanie has marks enough for all of us. You shot at us first. And you're holding a little girl kidnapped."

"I'm sure the Morrisville police know nothing about a kidnapping. They won't see anything wrong with a father here with his babysitter and daughter. Other than armed men in his home."

"I'd be willing to bet that those are Trenton police arriving. See, we told them we saw you going through Trenton. Then you crossed state lines. They probably followed you here. Paige lives in Trenton. It may include more paperwork, but Trenton will get their man." At this Conzitto had gone pale. His reputation with the Trenton police was soiled at best.

A few minutes later Carl Costanza and Big Dog walked in, along with some other officers I knew by name but not more. My friend Eddie Gazarra walked in last. He grinned openly. "Who've you got here?"

"This is Dominic Conzitto and the one bleeding is Bruno Gregorio. I'm a concerned citizen and I put in a call that I thought I saw a kidnapped girl with them, so I followed them here. I was standing outside and they fired at us! So I came inside with my friends," here I indicated Ranger and his men, "and we thought we would hold him under citizen's arrest until the police came here. I haven't seen the girl yet, but he fired at us without reason. There are bullets lodged in the trees out there!"

Eddie, Carl, and Big Dog now all wore big smiles. I gave them a story that was true, credible, and would hold up in a court of law. Conzitto looked like a frog with his mouth hanging open, waiting to catch flies. He was hauled up and cuffed, and before his rights were read to him the house was searched. Paige and the babysitter were found upstairs. I rushed to Paige and gave her a huge hug. It hurt, but I didn't want to let her go. "Where's my mommy?" she asked.

"I don't know, Sweetie."

"That man," she must have meant Conzitto, "said we were going to my mommy."

My eyes got big. I looked at Ranger. "Elizabeth!" I moved off, ready to search the rest of the house. She wasn't upstairs, not on the main level, nor did we see her in the cellar. Big Dog was able to easily reach the door to the attic and we all climbed up. The attic was dusty and unfinished, but in one corner there was a new looking addition with tracks in the dust leading from the door to the addition. It wasn't big, just a few framed and sheetrocked walls, but it would hold one person. The door had a padlock on it. Ranger waved me back, took aim, and blew the lock apart. We opened the door, and inside was Elizabeth. Relief so physical washed over me I sagged to my knees. Ranger held me on my feet while Carl went in. Elizabeth was pale and thin, but she was alive and she looked healthy. The room was soundproof. She had no idea anyone had been in the house.

We took her downstairs. She and I got help down the ladder and stairs. When we got to the main level we brought her to Paige in the kitchen. Elizabeth's face just lit up when she saw her little girl. She ran over and gave her a huge hug.

"Do you know who I am, baby?"

"You're my mommy. You always send letters and Auntie Sandra and Uncle Ronald show me your picture every night before bed."

Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears as she hugged her little girl.


	13. Chapter 13

_The characters you recognize are not mine, of course. Janet Evanovich is the genius behind the Stephanie Plum world. I'm just having some fun with it for my own pleasure._

_This takes place after _Fearless Fourteen_. _

**CHAPTER 13**

Two hours later all of the questions had been answered, Paige and Elizabeth were on their way to the hospital to be checked over, the babysitter had been sent home, Conzitto had been read his rights and arrested and taken back to New Jersey, Bruno had been put in a bag and carted off in the meat wagon, and now it was just a few of us left walking back to the cars.

"Ready, Babe?"

"I'm ready."

We didn't know for sure whose bullet had killed Bruno, though it looked like it might have been a .38. It seemed unlikely that it was mine, since I was firing wild and left handed, but no one else had been shooting a .38. Go figure. Maybe one of the men in the woods who disappeared before the rest of the police arrived did it. If it was my gun it didn't bother me. He had hurt me and he had hurt others.

And ironically, Conzitto was going to go to jail for kidnapping both Elizabeth and Paige, but not for smuggling or drugs or prostitution. Nothing he was expected to go for. As Ranger had said, he was like Al Capone. And does it matter so much? Capone went to jail for tax evasion. But he was best known for being a gangster. Conzitto was going to go to jail for kidnapping, but he'd always been known as a racketeer.

Ranger and I rode back to headquarters in silence. When we pulled into the garage he spoke.

"I'm going to leave my men in place around your family for a few days, Babe. And I'd like you to stay here, too."

I was so tired I only had a little bit of stubborn left in me. Right now all I wanted was bed. I didn't care whose or where. Mostly I was curious, though. "Why? We got Conzitto and Bruno."

"He had a large organization. There are a lot of people who are going to go away for crimes they've committed now that Conzitto won't be there to shield them. They may seek revenge. Please. You did what you set out to do. You saved the little girl and Elizabeth. Come upstairs and rest for a while. I'm not going to tell my men to stun you and keep you here, though I do ask that if you want to go out you let someone know and we'll go with you. Just for a few days."

I nodded. This made sense. We went up to his apartment. Ella, God bless her, had brought in dinner. For the first time in days I was hungry. We sat down and dug in. I was still eating after Ranger finished. He flashed me the 100 watt smile. "Hungry?"

"Definitely. I feel better now. I wish I could have done something to protect Sandra and Ronald, though."

"There was little you could have done, Babe, without putting yourself in far more danger. It won't come back to Conzitto personally, but their killers will be brought to justice.

After dinner we watched TV. Morelli called in the middle of the hockey game. They were getting tips called in left and right now about Emily and Lizzie. It looked like things were going to go pretty well for him. He apologized for being so busy for so long, but they were going to get their men.

I hung up the phone and looked at Ranger. He was looking softly at me.

"Thanks, Ranger. I really needed your help here."

"You're welcome, Babe. You needed it less than you think, though. Our resources helped you, but most of this operation came out of your brain. You thought it up, you deduced information. You're pretty good at this."

I laughed. It felt good to laugh again. "Thank you. Good at the thinking part. I still need to work on the apprehension part."

"When you're better if you'd like some training I'd be happy to help you. Not just showing the ropes like I have been. But you coming to the gym, sparring with the men and myself, learning self defense. You definitely could use self defense classes, Babe."

"Would you teach me to pick a lock? I think I'm the only one I know who doesn't know how."

Now it was Ranger's turn to laugh. "That's one of your charms, though. If you'd like to learn, however, we'll teach you."

I snuggled back into his couch and relaxed. Pretty soon I felt arms around me lifting me and then lowering me onto Ranger's amazing bed. I felt Ranger himself get in next to me. I held out my hand. He took it, and I fell asleep that way.

_Ranger's POV_

I looked at Stephanie asleep in my bed. So many times when I was with her I wished my life allowed for relationships. It was fun when she would come and "play house" with me for a while. I missed when she was gone, but life certainly was easier when she wasn't around. Though far less interesting. She had done so well on this one. My respect for her was huge. I was glad I could ask her to work for me, even if it was part time. She definitely had talents my men were lacking.

I watched her sleep for a while, little smiles flirting with her mouth in her sleep. I fell asleep holding her hand.

She stayed at my apartment for the next few days. Bobby checked on her once a day to make sure everything was healing properly. She'd go out occasionally, either with me or with another of my men, and go shopping or visit with friends and family. During one of her trips she spent the second 2500 she had gotten from Andrew Slack and bought herself another new car. This time a Dodge Neon. She wasn't up to taking on FTAs yet, so I had given her a job in my office so she wouldn't get evicted from her apartment. Every day for a little while she disappeared and talked with one of my men for an hour or more. I don't know what they talked about, but I noticed at night the nightmares became less and less frequent. Whatever she was doing to help herself in that regard was working.

On the fifth day Sandra and Ronald's bodies were found in a shallow grave north of town. We had Elizabeth brought around to make the identification. She and Paige were living in a safe house of mine for now.

After a week we had rounded up 22 of Conzitto's known associates, including Michaela Roberts. Many of them were linked with somewhat petty crimes, but four of them came back with guns matching the murder weapons of Sandra and Ronald. Several had information linking Bruno to Emily and Lizzie's murders. Morelli was getting gift after gift practically wrapped and delivered to his desk. It'd kept him busy, but he'd also kept him in good spirits when it came to Stephanie living with me. As for the other known 18 men who Conzitto had under his employ, they were small fish. No huge concern to anyone's safety. And the women he had "employed" were free to make their own choices. Most of them scattered in the wind.

It felt strange to me. After ten years Holmes had finally taken down his Moriarty. I hadn't realized how much time and energy I'd spent chasing after Conzitto until I didn't have to. Petty crime dropped a bit as well. I wallowed in garbage in my job, but I felt right now like it was the perfect place to be.

After a week we eased up on the security around Stephanie and her family. Bobby cleared her and she returned to work for Vinnie catching FTAs. Or at least chasing after them. She wasn't physically ready yet for training, not like my men and I would give her. I argued that that meant she shouldn't go after FTAs, but she blew me off and was stubborn about it. In a way I was happy to have her back with Vinnie. My men and I had been going after low bond skips, which wasn't something we normally did. So this way things were back to normal.

A couple of days later she went back to her apartment. I found myself driving by at night, just hoping to see her. Sometimes her car wasn't there and I'd drive over to Morelli's. I'd sigh if I found it in front of his house. What can I say? I love her, in my own way.

_Stephanie's POV_

Now that I was back at work at Vinnie's and I could lift my arms as high as my head, things were returning to normal. I went after the same drunk people, fed them the same lies, and ate the same food with my mother. We had gone to Sandra and Ronald's funeral together, along with Grandma Mazur. Elizabeth and Paige hadn't been there. I didn't know where they were exactly, other than Ranger was keeping an eye on them. A few days later he sent word that they were off to Baltimore to be with family.

One evening I was at Morelli's and we had just finished a pizza and were watching the game. There were some things I didn't know, and I was curious.

"Why did Conzitto have Emily and Lizzie killed?"

"From what we can tell, Elizabeth had told them about Paige, how Conzitto had finally figured out that she was his daughter, and she was scared he was going to kidnap her. That's part of why they left DMNC, Inc. They wanted to be back in the Burg to keep an eye on Paige. It backfired, though. Conzitto was going to take Paige and move out to some unknown place and start a double life."

"Do you think he would have turned her into one of his prostitutes as she got older?"

"I have no doubt about it. He didn't seem very paternal. She was his and therefore he had to have her. It didn't matter about her best interests, just that she was his. She would turn a nice profit later, probably. He's a sick man."

"Is he going to go to prison? They're not going to acquit him, are they?"

"There is no way he's getting free. We have testimony from so many people who saw them in passing, as well as Elizabeth's testimony. He's going away for the rest of his life."

I was happy about that. I rested my head against Morelli's shoulder.

"So...," he said. "Bobby has cleared you for work?"

"I'm cleared for most normal, non-strenuous activities, yes."

"Hmmm, so which is it, normal or non-strenuous? I have some activities I'd like to try, but they may end up strenuous."

I grinned at him. I was definitely feeling better. "We'll just take it one step at a time, ok."

One step at a time took all night.


End file.
